In what would be a double win for mobile marketers, sources tell the The New York Times that Apple is considering a cheaper iPhone -- which would make the devices more readily available -- but not a smaller, and likely less ad-friendly, version. "More important, a phone with a smaller screen would force many developers to rewrite their apps, which Apple wants to avoid," The Times explains. Contrary to earlier press reports, "A senior Apple executive ... recently said during a private meeting ... it would not make multiple iPhone models, instead it would continue to drop …

At a meeting on Wednesday, kiosk DVD rental service Redbox told analysts that it was ready to on Netflix. "Redbox President Mitch Lowe said his company's forthcoming digital option will be subscription-based Internet streaming instead of a transactional service through which consumers pay separately for each movie," reports The Los Angeles Times. According to Lowe, a single monthly fee will allow users to access movies on multiple devices and access discs through kiosks. Redbox will therefore be competing directly with Netflix, which presently has over 20 million subscribers to its DVD-by-mail and Internet streaming subscription plans. Redbox has …

Fran Hauser has been promoted to president of digital for Time Inc.'s Style & Entertainment and Lifestyle groups, the company said Thursday. "Hauser comes with years of experience at style & entertainment mags including People, InStyle, and Entertainment Weekly," reports MediaBistro. Hauser will now manage all of Time Inc.'s women's brands, including lifestyle titles such as Real Simple, Southern Living and Myrecipes.com. Hauser will work under Time Inc. EVPs Paul Caine and Evelyn Webster, and will be expected to grow her groups' online reach. To date, Hauser has served as president of digital for the Style & Entertainment …

A full 83.5% of all U.S. Internet users watched a Web video in January, according to new data from comScore. That works out to over 171 million consumers. "When it comes to online video, it's hard to find someone who hasn't watched at least one clip in the past month," jokes CNet. What's more, the average online video lasted about five minutes, and those who watched ad-supported content sat through an average of 24 seconds worth of commercials. With a little help from YouTube, Google led the way in total viewership last month, serving video to over 144 …

According to press reports from China, Groupon is not getting along with its Gaopeng.com group buying venture partner Tenacent. "Apparently the site went up for a day, Tencent balked and pulled it back down," TechCrunch hears. "Beyond that, people tell us the operation is pure chaos: Rapid hiring, little due diligence and money being thrown around. The biggest gripe: It's almost entirely run by foreigners." Perhaps asking for trouble, Gaopeng recently ran a hiring ad with the promise of limitless funds, plans to hire 1,000 people in a matter of months, and consultants and MBAs in particular. "Not …

Search engine marketing just officially became social engine marketing. Feeling left out of the social media revolution, Google is baking "friends'' activity on Twitter, Flickr, and other platforms (other than Facebook) into the top search results users see. In some cases, "The social search element will change a page's ranking -- making it appear higher than 'normal,'" reports Search Engine Land. "The ranking impact will be different based on how strong your connections are, and different people will see different results.""This ... is personalization taken to another level," remarks ReadWriteWeb. "This is personalization in the form …

In its efforts to assemble an all-star management team, Groupon reportedly tried to bring on Jason Kilar, currently CEO of Hulu, as its head of worldwide operations. "It couldn't be determined whether Kilar plans to take the job," reports Bloomberg, which broke the news. Sources, however, say the position is expected to be filled within the next 30 days. "Global expansion is crucial as Groupon CEO Andrew Mason weighs a potential initial public offering this year," according to Bloomberg. The company, which now offers daily deals in some 35 countries, reportedly gets much of its sales from outside …

Google on Wednesday debuted an Android subscription model, which lets publishers "set their own prices and terms for their digital content." As Fast Company notes, "It's a fast counter blow aimed squarely at Apple's new subscription system." Indeed, "Google's been careful to frame its system as a direct competitor to Apple's App Store subscription service--one that's far friendlier to publishers--without really mentioning Apple at all." ,br> In a blog post about the new service, dubbed One Pass, Google describes it as a way for readers to "access their content on tablets, smartphones and websites using a single sign-on with …

Memorial site 1000Memories just closed a $2.5 million series A round of funding from Greylock Partners. Helping to honor the memory of loved ones, 1000Memories gives friends and family an online destination to memorialize the recently departed. "Its founders started the company after experiencing the impact of a death on Facebook and realizing that it wasn't a sufficient or effective way to remember loved ones," according to Mashable. Originally funded by Y Combinator, the start-up has reportedly attracted a great deal of attention since its graduation from the start-up accelerator's program. Launched in August 2010, it quickly raised a …

Among other information, the office of Texas Attorney General Gregg Abbott has requested Google's formula for setting advertising rates. According to a demand for documents by state antitrust officials cited by Bloomberg, the antitrust investigators are also seeking Google documents that show "manual overriding or altering of" search result rankings. The order is similar to a subpoena, compelling a company to turn over documents and make executives available for interviews. "State investigators also want Google documents on rivals Microsoft Corp.'s Bing and Yahoo! Inc. and complaints about purchasing and placing an ad on Google." As Google admitted late …