• Digital Drives Up Revenue For UBM
    United Business Media, owner of PR Newswire and TechWeb, on Friday reported higher online revenue thanks to InformationWeek, EE Times, its virtual events, and its acquisition of Game Advertising Online. Overall, for the nine months ending September 30, revenue was up 3.9% to just over a billion dollars. CEO David Levin portrayed the results as a "solid performance in an improving environment," according to paidContent. Data revenues rose thanks to the company's TechInsights advisory benefitting from "improved electronics industry market conditions." Meanwhile, operating margin in data services and online declined from 12.9% to 11.2% on investment in virtual events …
  • Poll: Facebook Not Worth Wealthy's Time
    A clear majority of millionaires have joined a social network, i.e., Facebook, according to new poll results from SEI Wealth Network. In total, some 70% of respondents with $5 million or more in investible assets have joined the social revolution, the wealth-advisory firm finds. (By contrast, just 61% of the broader population have joined a network.) "There is just one problem," as The Wall Street Journal notes. Millionaires "don't have time to actually use them." Indeed, "Only 17% of the multimillionaires use the sites on a daily basis," reports The Journal, citing SEI's findings. "That is far less than …
  • Report: Hulu Plus Might Halve Price
    Did Hulu overestimate how much consumers would be willing to pay for its subscription service? Maybe so, and, as a result, the joint venture is considering cutting the price of Hulu Plus, reports MediaMemo. Sources tell the blog -- owned by News Corp., which partly owns Hulu -- that the video site might cut its $9.95 per-month fee in half to $4.95. "Hulu Plus was supposed to be the video site's strategy to generate a second revenue stream to complement the free, ad-supported site," MediaMemo writes. "But a price cut would indicate that consumers haven't bought in to the …
  • Gawker: R.I.P. Chatroulette
    With its traffic in the doldrums and its buzz bubble busted, Gawker is writing Chatroulette's obituary. "It's hard to believe that barely eight months ago the anonymous video chat site had everyone captivated," writes Gawker. "Venture capitalists clamored to invest, journalists tripped over one another to profile--and now Chatroulette is dying, unused and unloved." According to "rough traffic statistics" from Quantcast and Compete, the "voyeuristic social network" does seem to have lost the world wide web's attention. Note Gawker -- as only Gawker can note: "It doesn't help that the site became infamous as a haven for bared c*cks …
  • Google's Web-TV Encounters Content Roadblocks
    No one ever said Web TV was going to be easy.Late this week, ABC, CBS and NBC began blocking their content from streaming on Google's new Web-TV service.Clearly, writes The Wall Street Journal, the issue is "exposing the rift that remains between the technology giant and some of the media companies it wants to supply content for its new products."As of Thursday night, Reuters reported that Google was actively negotiating with the three networks to regain access to their content, while Fox was considering blocking Google, too.Why aren't the networks cooperating with Google? "The row is basically over …
  • To The Moon, Foursquare!!!
    Ever dreamt of becoming the Mayor of Mars? Nope, neither have we, but, thanks to a new partnership between NASA and Foursquare, the concept is no longer entirely sci-fi. In fact, from the International Space Station, Commander Doug Wheelock just made the Foursquare "first check" in... from space! "Using Foursquare's mobile web interface, Wheelock kicked off a program for NASA in conjunction with Foursquare that aims to help raise awareness of the many locations where we pass space technology every day," The Next Web reports. Part marketing gimmick, part educational endeavor, if someone checks in at the agency's headquarters …
  • Weighing Microsoft's Windows 7 Phone
    With what some say is the future of Microsoft at stake, critics are just starting to weigh in on Windows Phone 7. The verdict? Critically, The Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg calls the mobile operating system "novel but lacking." Ouch. Specifically, "Despite having all that time to study its rivals, Microsoft has inexplicably omitted from Windows Phone 7 key features now common, or becoming so, on competitive phones," Mossberg adds. "These missing features include copy and paste, visual voicemail, multitasking of third-party apps, and the ability to do video calling and to use …
  • Regarding Google And Taxes
    Corporate tax havens are commonplace, sure, but that didn't stop Bloomberg/Businessweek from looking into Google's unique approach to gaming the system. "To reduce its overseas tax bill, Google uses a complicated legal structure that has saved it $3.1 billion since 2007 and boosted last year's overall earnings by 26 percent," it writes. "While many multinationals use similar structures, Google has managed to lower its overseas tax rate more than its peers in the technology sector." Indeed, Google's rate since 2007 has been 2.4%, while, Apple, Oracle, Microsoft, and IBM reported tax rates between 4.5% and 25.8% on …
  • Report: Facebook-Centric Startups On The Way
    Are we about to witness a revolution in Facebook-focused startups? Likely so, according to SocialBeat, which reports that venture firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers was set to discuss "social web developments" at Facebook headquarters on Thursday. "There's no official word on what Kleiner will reveal, but a fund for startups building Facebook applications, integrating with Facebook in other ways, or maybe just for social startups in general seems like the most likely news," SocialBeat writes. To date, the firm has had success with Facebook startups, i..e, Zynga, which is reportedly preparing for an initial public offering. …
  • Mozilla Exec: Apple Out To Kill Web
    With only a touch of sarcasm, Mozilla exec Mike Beltzner is accusing Apple and Steve Jobs of conspiring to render the Web obsolete. "I wonder when Apple will stop shipping Safari," Mozilla's director of Firefox development tweeted this week, following Apple's "Back to the Mac" event. "It's obvious already from today's keynote that they're looking to bypass the web." What's motivating Beltzner's attack? Well, as The Register notes, "A day after Mozilla unveiled a prototype for an 'open web app store' -- a browser-agnostic store offering access to standards-based web apps sans Jobsian gatekeeper -- Beltzner was …
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