Further blurring the line between TV and online content, Google is quietly testing a TV search service in partnership with satellite TV provider Dish Network. Citing people familiar with the matter, The Wall Street Journal says the service, "which runs on TV set-top boxes containing Google software, allows users to find shows on the satellite-TV service and video from Web sites like Google's YouTube," as well as "personalize a lineup of shows." "The idea is that Google will be able to make a better user interface for TV searches than service providers like …

Barnes & Noble has hired Time Inc. exec Jonathan Shar as general manager of its new "Digital Newsstand and Emerging Content" initiative. Shar is leaving Time Warner as general manager of CNNMoney.com. At the bookseller, he will be in charge of creating a storefront for digital newspapers, magazines blogs and other content publishers for bn.com, Nook users and other platforms. It's worth noting that the launch of Apple's souped up e-reader -- which will have its own 'digital storefront' a la iTunes -- is less than a month away. Other potential enemies (and "frenemies") include Amazon, Conde …

No, Around The Net isn't a job posting board, but it's worth noting that The New York Times is looking to hire at least a dozen full-time software engineers and Web designers -- including a "Creative Technologist" -- along with a social media-marketing manager. Most of the openings are for senior software engineers and other Web developers, as well as one Web designer and a design technologist who will "help develop new areas of NYTimes.com with a full skill-set of client-side technologies including HTML, CSS, Flash/ActionScript and JavaScript/Prototype." The paper recently announced plans to implement what it's …

The New York Times profiles Web radio and music recommendation engine Pandora, which is apparently living on borrowed time. "For most of its 10 years, it has been on the verge of death, struggling to find investors and battling record labels over royalties," according to The Times. Now, investment bankers are getting in line to wine and dine the startup's founder Tim Westergren. What tipped the scales of fortune? A successful iPhone app, according to The Times. Presently, pandora's 48 million users tune in an average 11.6 hours a month. That's likely to increase significantly if and …

Ecommerce sales in the U.S. will continue growing at a 10% compound annual growth rate through 2014, according to a new five-year forecast from Forrester Research. As a result, online retail sales in the U.S. will be nearly $250 billion by 2014 -- up from $155 billion in 2009. Last year, online retail sales were up 11%, compared to 2.5% for all retail sales. Bigger picture, by 2014, ecommerce sales will represent 8% of all retail sales in the U.S. by 2014 -- up from 6% in 2009. In 2009, meanwhile, 154 million people in the U.S. …

On Friday, Condé Nast-owned technology-news site Ars Technica blocked its content for users who were employing a particular ad-blocking tool. The result was confusion, backtracking, and some seriously ticked-off readers. In response, editor Ken Fisher wrote a piece entitled, "Why Ad-Blocking Is Devastating to the Sites You Love," which argued that, unless a site resorts to a subscription model, they need functioning ads to live. "Imagine running a restaurant where 40% of the people who came and ate didn't pay," Fisher writes. "In a way, that's what ad blocking is doing to us." Adds Fisher, while some …

What little advertising ABC did have during last night's Oscars was given a boost by Apple's debut iPad commercial. With the tablet computer's debut less than a month away, "Fever's mounting," writes Fast Companyb -- and not just domestically. "The Oscars, like 'em or loathe 'em, count as one of the most viewed TV events around the World ... making them an absolutely perfect platform for Apple to tease its upcoming tablet PC." "During the Grammy's Apple got comedian Stephen Colbert to show off an iPad ... live on stage," notes Venture Beat. …

Legendary film critic Roger Ebert is launching a subscription-based online newsletter. For about $5 a year, "The Ebert Club" subscribers will receive a variety of content, including links to recent postings on his blog, and selected Twitter updates. There will also be a private discussion thread for members, which Ebert says will resemble his comment threads and feature a private URL. Members will also have access to "The Web Report" -- Ebert's collection of "unexpected and delightful Web discoveries" (that is seriously what it says). Members will also receive advance notice of "Ebertfest" tickets going on sale. According to …

Setting its sights on foreign invasion, Amazon wants to build a "fulfilment centre" in Canada, which according to The Globe And Mail, is "believed to be a means by which the Web firm can distribute products bought on its site without resorting to a third-party shipping service." In turn, the Canadian government has ordered a review of Amazon's proposal to go forward with the operation. Amazon has been operating a Canadian arm since it launched Amazon.ca back in 2002. Still, "the government review of its proposed distribution business has wider implications," writes The Globe And Mail. "Indeed, …

During the last three months of 2009, more consumers signed up for wireless services than in any comparable period over the last three years, according to new data from Wireless Intelligence. That amounts to 5.9 million (net) new subscribers. Verizon, which ended December 2009 with 91.2 million subscribers, added 2.2 million (net) new subscribers during the most recent quarter -- the most since the third quarter of 2008. "In comparison, thanks in part to Apple's iPhone, AT&T added 2.7 million net new subscribers, taking its total to 85.1 million," notes Wireless Intelligence analyst Jon Groves. "Head-to-head after …