(* Source: Paul Glazowski *)

Posted by brian tiong at 07:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

(* Source: Jason Kincaid *)

Jason says... 

As one of the most popular forms of communication in the world, SMS has become a favorite channel for advertisers to reach out to their audience. Everywhere we go, billboards and TV shows try to convince us that we should “Text MAGIC to 9340″, with promises of goodies like free ringtones and coupon codes.

Now Tagga, a Canadian startup launching today, is looking to help you create your own SMS campaign. The service is currently live in Canada, but is still smoothing some things out with American carriers so it may not work quite yet on your phone (the company says any issues should be resolved over the next few weeks).

To create a campaign, users first designate what keyword they’d like to use. For example, we might choose to use the word “Tech”. From then on, any user to text “Tech” to 82442 (it spells TAGGA) would receive whatever content we’d decided to distribute. The company says that users won’t be allowed to namesquat the keywords, as it will delete any accounts that are inactive for too long.

For most people, Tagga offers two pricing plans. The first option allows users to create free campaigns, but 80 of the 160 characters on each text messages are reserved for ads from sponsors. The site also offers a paid premium account at 20 cents per message delivered which eliminates the ads.

Tagga also has a plan in place for “publishers”, who can use the service to offer their readers a sort of short form RSS. Publishers can choose to include ads as part of their message campaigns, but unlike the standard program, they receive a revenue share from each ad. To participate, members have to prove that they are actually generating unique content, as opposed to spamming someone else’s blog material.

Tagga has a huge market to try to capitalize on: there were an estimated 1.9 trillion text messages sent in 2007 alone. But the company will face steep competition from a number of more mature services that do nearly the same thing, like Mozes, which recently closed an $11.5 million round of funding. To help differentiate itself, Tagga is offering keywords for free (Mozes charges $5 per month), but this plan may backfire if Tagga is unable to handle the rush of name squatters.

Posted by brian tiong at 01:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

 
(* Source: eMarketer *)

It's not just the phones.

Posted by brian tiong at 10:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

(* Source: Mark Hefflinger *)

(* Source: Peter Kafka *)

Bad news for Rupert Murdoch: Goldman Sachs figures his Internet business is worth perhaps $3 billion -- about half the value he was trying to get for it earlier this year. The good news: Goldman didn't generate its numbers by placing a value on the eyeballs that MySpace and the rest of Fox Interactive Media have attracted, or even the revenue they're generating. Instead, Goldman derived its estimate based on FIM's earnings. That is: MySpace and the rest of Murdoch's Web properties are now a real business, making real money.

That's worth remembering as we enter the late stages of the Web 2.0 boom, where buyers and sellers are still scrambling to place a value on revenue-light, or revenue-free, startups like Digg or Twitter. Murdoch and company have been dinged -- fairly -- for failing to deliver on aggressive revenue and earnings targets the company set out a year ago. And they're still struggling to convince advertisers to pay up for the billions of page views they generate.

But even if it's not what Murdoch had hoped for/promised, there is real money there: Analyst Mark Wienkes figures FIM (mostly MySpace, but also Photobucket, IGN, etc) is going to generate $155 million in EBITDA in (calendar year) 2008. At a 15x multiple, that's $2.3 billion. At 20x, $3.1 billion. That's about 2x what he spent acquiring the properties in the last few years. And Mark sees MySpace's top and bottom lines marching steadily upward (note that the chart below is for News Corp.'s fiscal year, which turns over every July).

The disappointment for Murdoch are those year-over-year growth numbers -- cable guys, not go-go Web companies, are the ones that are supposed to be delivering 12% growth. But it's been clear for some time that MySpace's US audience has peaked, and that it's going to be fighting very hard against Facebook and other competitors for international eyeballs.

But take a look at the first chart again: Those 2011 numbers, where FIM is merely posting a 12% revenue gain? Those are numbers Goldman thinks FIM can achieve after its current $900 million, three-year contract with Google has expired. That is, they're based on real advertisers paying market prices for a mature site. Those aren't blow-your-socks off numbers. But in a couple of years, after an ad recession and a reckoning about what various hot-shot Internet properties are really worth, a company with real revenue, and real profits, might be something to brag about.

Posted by brian tiong at 11:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

(* Source: Peter Kafka *)

Peter says... 

Conventional wisdom on YouTube: Eyeballs go in, but no money comes out. Google can't figure out how to sell ads against the videos it shows, so the people who make YouTube's videos aren't getting any money out of it.

Not true, says Terry McBride, who runs both a music label and management business under the umbrella of Nettwerk Music Group: There's plenty of cash. For instance, he told a London music conference this month, pop star Avril Lavigne, who Terry manages, is going to make a mint:  ”There’s about a $2 million cheque waiting for her for all her YouTube plays.”

How's that going to work? We called Terry to ask. The answer: He's not quite sure.

Here is Terry's basic math: By his count, Avril has already generated some 200 million streams on YouTube. He thinks, but doesn't know, that YouTube is paying out between $0.005 and $0.008 in revenue share each time it streams an officially licensed video. If YouTube is paying out 0.8 cents per stream, it means it is already on the hook for $1.6 million. And Avril will certainly keep cranking out videos, and streams, for some time to come. So there's definitely money there.

Video tracking service TubeMogul confirms Terry's estimate of Avril's YouTube popularity. In fact, it says, that 200 million number only accounts for officially licensed stuff -- if you include grey area clips, like those of kids lipsyncing to her songs in their bedroom, the total is closer to 1 billion. And Terry's 0.8 cents per stream estimate seems plausible: Guesstimates place YouTube's CPM at $15, which means it is generating 1.5 cents for every stream it generates. It may well be giving up half of that to content creators/rights holders.

But even those rough estimates are full of uncertainty: In addition to not knowing YouTube's aggregate revenue payout, Terry doesn't know how that money will be split between various rights holders: Avril's publisher, Avril's record company (Sony BMG) and Avril herself. He'll start to figure out some of that once he starts to see actual royalty statements. None of this going to happen anytime soon, Terry says: He figures Avril is another 2 to 3 years from seeing a significant payout.

So to sum up: Avril Lavigne's manager thinks she will get some money, some time, from YouTube. That's not as dramatic as the prospect of a $2 million check. But Terry says that no matter what the sum is, his larger argument is correct: Music acts should stop thinking of YouTube as little more than a promotional machine, and start thinking of it as a revenue stream.

Posted by brian tiong at 10:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

(* Source: Jason Kincaid *)

Jason says... 

Mariam Naficy, co-founder of failed beauty startup Eve.com (which went belly up when the bubble burst in 2000), has launched her latest venture: Minted, an online stationery store with a competitive marketplace reminiscent of the one found on custom t-shirt store Threadless.

The site offers graphic designers a community to showcase and (hopefully) sell their designs, which are voted on by customers. The best designs are printed and sold, with about 5% of the retail price going to the designer (this may sound small, but Naficy says it is near double what a designer might get from a traditional card company like Hallmark). On top of the revenue sharing, the site will also hold regular competitions, with winning entries winning on the order of $1000. To further sweeten the deal for the designers, all cards have the artists’ name emblazoned in fine print on the back (another thing you won’t see on typical greeting cads).

The store will sell a mix of designer-submitted cards and cards from established independent card companies. While Minted is starting with stationery, it will likely expand to other products in the future. Minted will initially only sell its cards through its online storefront, but Naficy says that there ample opportunities for partnerships and alternative distribution channels down the line. If the site is going to succeed, it will need to establish these ties quickly - few people are going to buy from a stationery store they’ve never heard of, giving designers little reason to submit their designs in the first place.

Posted by brian tiong at 10:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

(* Source: Jason Kincaid *)

One of the most frustrating things about online music services like Last.fm and Pandora is that they don’t allow users to play back songs in their entirety on demand. The sites have made some progress in the last few months (Last.fm introduced full-song playback for some labels in January and iLike implemented it this morning), but for the most part these features are still limited by the agreements each site has forged with record labels.

Today sees the launch of Favtape, a new mashup that mixes Pandora, Last.fm, Seeqpod, and Slinkset to offer full playback of your favorite songs on demand, without any limitations. The site was created by Ryan Sit, one of the developers behind blog/lifecasting service Swurl.

Favtape pulls your Favorites (or “Loved”) list from Pandora and Last.fm and generates a playlist that contains full versions of each song. The interface is overly basic at this point - you can start and stop the song by clicking on its title, but there’s no way to rearrange them to create a new playlist. Below each song is a list of related links that allow users to purchase the song, view lyrics, and see a list of similar artists. Favtape will initially generate revenue through the links to iTunes, Amazon, and Ringtones displayed under each song.

The site also features a Digg-like “Discovery” option that allows users to vote on the best playlists. Unfortunately, there’s no way to actually tweak your playlists to make them more appealing without modifying your “Favorites” from Last.fm or Pandora. This lack of playlist customization is frustrating, but will likely be added soon.

Favtape makes heavy use of the Seeqpod API, which it uses for song playback and recommendations. While this presumably will help Favtape avoid any legal trouble (it isn’t actually hosting any music), it is also making it totally reliant on a service that is on shaky ground. Seeqpod isn’t hosting any music either (it crawls the internet searching for files hosted on other servers), but that hasn’t stopped the lawsuits from coming. For the time being, though, Favtape offers a great way to listen to your favorite songs without paying a cent. A simialr site that relies on Seeqpod (but doesn’t auto-generate playlists) is Streamzy, which we covered earlier this month.

Posted by brian tiong at 10:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

(* Source: eMarketer *) 

"I heard it through the grapevine…" or maybe on my mobile phone.

Posted by brian tiong at 10:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

(* Source: Mark Hefflinger *)

Posted by brian tiong at 10:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Pandora’s internet radio has always been one of those sites that was really cool in concept, but too inconvenient to ever go mainstream. The service was long tied to computers only, and while it eventually expanded to special internet radios and some mobile phones, it still has yet to become a household name. But with the launch of Pandora’s new iPhone app last Friday, it looks like the service is about to hit critical mass. It’s a free, mobile, digital radio station that only plays music you like and lets you skip the stuff you don’t. And it rocks.

The personalized music service employs a small army of 50 musicians to create a “Music Genome” that describes each song according to 600 attributes. Listeners input a few of their favorite artists, and the site analyzes the Genome to serve up an endless stream of recommended music.

We introduced the app last Friday, when we called it our “flat out favorite application so far”, and since then it hasn’t failed to impress. Streamed music plays flawlessly over Edge and 3G networks - during a 40 mile drive I didn’t once run into any kind of skipping or static. Even better, the app currently has no advertisements playing, though we can probably expect that to change.

Unsurprisingly, Pandora’s usage stats are overwhelmingly positive. Pandora is currently the fourth most popular free app on iTunes (behind Apple’s Remote, AIM, and WeatherBug), and has reportedly been seeing a new listener every 2 seconds. Usage over the weekend hit an all-time high for the service, with 3.3 million tracks streamed to iPhone listeners alone. Perhaps more impressive is the retention rate of listeners, who are averaging over an hour of listening per day.

If there’s one thing that could kill the service, it’s ads. Pandora is going to need to monetize the app somehow - let’s hope it allows us to pay an upfront fee (say, $10) to avoid the annoying interruptions that have made listening to traditional radio a painful experience.

Posted by brian tiong at 10:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

(* Source: Paul Isakson *) 

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Paul on some things he especially liked:

Slide 3: The thought of not focusing on one idea, but creating a range of ideas that engage people and bring them closer to the brand - something that the research of Duncan Watts is leading people to and something that Faris and Noah have been on to for quite a while, as have a few others.

Slide 33: If you're producing applications for brands/clients, always remember that the application is a means to an end, not the end itself.

Slides 47-59 on Emotional Research - it's time to start looking at things differently, don't you think?

Posted by brian tiong at 09:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

(* Source: Calley Nye *)

Calley says... 

Google has partnered with Radiohead to promote the band’s music video for the song “House of Cards” from the album In Rainbows.

It’s definitely not your average video considering that there were no cameras or lights used: it’s all data. The video uses real time 3D recording, utilizing structured light and laser-enhanced scanners. Google is hosting the interactive video application at code.google.com and providing an iGoogle gadget for the video and application.

RADIOHEAD_HOUSE OF CARDS
	Gadgets powered by Google

The video was created by music video director James Frost, and the technology was handled by Aaron Koblin, who has done several other visualizations including the well-known flight pattern visualization.

To capture the 3D images, they used a structured light scanner from Geometric Informatics for the close proximity shots of the singers and a Velodyne LIDAR scanner for the landscapes. The LIDAR scanner uses 64 lasers to scan an environment and create an XYZ point cloud of data, which is then rendered and read by 3D software.

Radiohead got a lot of attention when it released its album In Rainbows for free online. This led to a lot of speculation about the future of the music industry and the way people will purchase music.

Since Radiohead identifies itself with the open-source ethos, it’s releasing the video’s data so that developers can remix it and make their own variations of the music video. You can download the viewers and data from the Google Code project page.

That page also has an in-browser data viewer for viewing and interacting with the video. The player is Flash-based, so you can zoom with the mouse wheel, or click-and-drag to move it around. The page also has links to the YouTube video, the YouTube group (for user-remixed videos) and the behind-the-scenes video.

This project may have interested Google because the LIDAR technology used in the landscape and large environment shots is similar to the system Google uses for their Google Maps Street View project. It’s just a very different application of the same technology.

Also see Aniboom’s contest where cartoonists are encouraged to create music videos for Radiohead songs.

Posted by brian tiong at 08:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

(* Source: Jason Kincaid *)

Jason reports... 

TuneUp, the iTunes plugin that uses digital fingerprinting to help clean up your iTunes library, has launched to the public. The plugin is currently available to Windows users, with a Mac version expected this fall (annoying, by the site’s own admission). You can download it here.

Users can get a free version of the software that limits them to 500 song tag cleanups and 50 album cover lookups (suitable for only the smallest music libraries), or a paid version with no usage restrictions. The cost of the paid version is $12 per year, or $20 for a lifetime subscription. Both versions of the software also include features that will show YouTube videos related to the song currently playing, as well as concerts in the area.

More here 

Posted by brian tiong at 08:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

(* Source: Fred Guillet via KZero *) 

Nic Mitham reports...

Virtual worlds need new users, particularly new worlds. But there’s only so many users around to sign-up to new worlds. Is supply exceeding demand? At present, quite possibly. In the near future? Even more likely, until new worlds stop relying on viral activities and focus more on more traditional marketing channels to raise their awareness.

There’s been a flurry of new worlds catering for kids, tweens and teens (KT&T) lately. Some are in open beta and some are fully live. But how are these worlds doing in terms of attracting traffic to their sites? One thing’s for sure, unless a world has a specular rate of new sign-ups, they’re not going to release these figures. But, we can look at other ways of determining who’s doing comparatively better than others.

Using Alexa traffic rankings is one way. Alexa ranks websites based on visits from users of its toolbar integrated into internet explorer and other other browsers. It’s not perfect, due to potential sampling biases, but it works well for comparative assessments.

The graph below shows newly launched or open beta virtual worlds for the KT&T segment. The number axis refers to the comparitive score of each site - the lower the better (the most popular website in the world would be ranked number one). Just in case you’re wondering who’s in the top five across the entire web, it’s as follows:

1. Yahoo.com
2. Google.com
3. YouTube.com
4. Windows Live (live.com)
5. MSN.com

Ok, so here’s the new virtual worlds, using the traffic ranking from the primary (usually .com) website……

With an Alexa rank of 14,558, Buildabearville is attracting the most traffic for new KT&T worlds. Of course, Alexa rankings do not take into account the conversion rate of visitors to sign-ups (or the demographic profile of visitors), it’s just an indication of traffic to the site and that’s the basis it’s being used for. This is of particular relevance to newly launched worlds - these guys need traffic asap.

Second place goes to Chapatiz with a score of 18,896. Two UK based worlds, Vizwoz and Lola’s Land are not doing as well as their US counterparts, explained primarily by the localite nature of the viral activity taking place for these worlds.

The middle ground is comprised of Smallworlds, Whirled and ZooKaZoo, with rankings in the 160,000 range - not bad.

But, all these worlds have a long way to go to get into the territory of the more established KT&T worlds, as shown by the graph below.

Gaia Online (assisted by their extremely popular forums) is the leading world in this segment with a rank of 291 - the 291st most popular website in the world, based on Alexa rankings. Neopets comes in second best with a score of 368. Interestingly, Stardoll and Webkinz are extremely close from a ranking perspective - 750 - 800 range.

Perhaps surprisingly to some, Club Penguin is in fifth place, with a ranking of 1,121, although it’s three times more popular than Habbo (.com) and over four times more popular than Barbie Girls. All of these worlds perform extremely well on an overall basis though.

Lastly, the graph below shows virtual worlds for older teens and young adults, with Second Life included as a benchmark. It’s important to also point out here that these worlds are all downloadable clients as opposed to browser-based, so visits to these websites exclude actual usage in-world, unless directed from a login.

Clearly IMVU is nailing this segment with a ranking of 709m globally. Often compared Kaneva and There demonstrate their similarities here as well, with scores of 24,380 and 25,870 respectively - Kaneva is marginally more popular according to Alexa.

vMTV and Twinity are also level-pegging, albeit on a less popular basis than Kaneva/There, with rankings in the 73k - 75k range. Newcomer vSide has an understandably lower (less traffic) score of 109.408.

So, of use?

Treating Alexa rankings with the provisos noted above, these comparative numbers shed some great light into how well worlds are performing, especially for newly launched worlds.

For companies currently in stealth/early development mode thinking growth will come purely from viral activity: take note of these rankings - these are your benchmarks.

Posted by brian tiong at 05:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

(* Source: Dean McRobie *) 

Dean says... 

This is a fantastic example of some outside the box thinking on connecting the offline, mobile, and online experience with customized products. By now I am sure you are all familiar with the NIKEiD program. The next evolution is using MMS on your cell phone to help you pick and match your outfit. The technology behind this isn't too complicated, but the experience design is interesting: see something that catches your eye, snap a picture, Nike sends you the matching shoes overlaid on your picture, and of course linking over to ordering online too! This technology and experience could apply to all kinds of clothing and retail products with strong color choices and a relatively minimal infrastructure.

Masterminded by AKQA, London, NIKE PHOTOiD is a brand new mobile application which allows users to customize their own set of sneakers according to their physical surroundings. You simply take a picture of something on your camera phone (it could be anything from a piece of graffiti to an ice cream sundae) and then send this pic off to a shortcode via MMS. The NIKEiD website then picks out the two strongest colours from your image and uses them to colour your custom sneakers. Within a minute, you are sent a link with your design superimposed over the original source of pantone inspiration.

You can then save this image as wallpaper for your mobile, send it to a mate or, by entering the unique DESIGNiD at NIKEiD.com, link directly to your design to complete and actually purchase the sneakers. As one particularly over-excited sneaker-freak in our office inquired with a faint hint of dribble at the corner of his mouth: 'So I could take a picture of a grassy meadow and then it would text me a link to buy my very own Nike Grassy Meadows?' Yeap chap - that's about the long and short of it...

Posted by brian tiong at 03:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

(* Source: Marta Strickland *)

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Marta says... 

I cannot claim to have come up with the catchy phrase or this great simple, engaging, and to the point presentation on social media. But nevertheless, I have to do my part to support Marta's in Social Media, and thus I am putting my seal of approval on this great presentation from Marta Kagan.

Is it revolutionary? No. Is there anything we haven't heard before? Probably not. The important thing it's fun and that it's right. It's all the stuff that we have been blogging, preaching, reading, and tweeting for the past few years, only to the point with fun graphics and those great top-level gut-punching numbers.

Posted by brian tiong at 03:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

(* Source: Sean P. Aune *)

Sean says... 

Earlier this week Google launched Lively, a new social network where anyone can create an avatar and virtual room that can be embedded anywhere on the Web. 3D services such as Lively are popping up more and more online thanks to the popularity of virtual worlds like Second Life, Meez, and more.

So are your skills up to snuff? We’ve gathered over 20 3D creation tools so that you can create your own avatar or virtual world. Whether you’re a 3D pro or just starting out, we’ve got tools for everyone. Try them out and let us know what you think.

Free 3D Tools

SceneCaster.com - Create 3D environments, complete with talking avatars, that you can then share on Facebook, Flickr Flickr and more. 3D models are partially based on items from major retailers. Can be displayed on any device that supports XHTML (i.e. the iPhone). You can learn a lot more in the write up our Kristen Nicole did.

Akebulan.com - Makers of 3DBuilder and 3DRender. Builder is currently in beta (you need to sign up and they will email it to you), Builder lets you create interactive 3D environment that can then be accessed in a browser via a regular URL. 3DRender allows modelers to test their models with the Java3D API.

Anim8or.com - A freeware 3D modeling program created by a software engineer at NVidia. The last stable release was in April 2007, but it says it’s still being worked on.

ArtOfIllusion.org - An open source project for building a 3D modeling program that can be used by all skill levels.

AutoQ3D - Has both free and paid versions.

Blender.org - A full-featured, GNU licensed free program that clearly gives you more bells & whistles than we could ever list here.

Seamless3D.com - An open source 3D modeling program project, has several tutorials and seems like a good place to get your feet wet.

SketchUp.com - Proving that Google will come out with some crazy stuff, this Google app has numerous 3D modeling possibilities, and can help you create more 3D buildings for Google Earth Google Earth .

TopMod3D.org - An open source 3D mesh modeling system that is platform independent.

Wings3D.com - An open source mesh polygon modeling program that is under very active development.

ZModeler2.com - A 3D modeler primarily aimed at those creating models for games.

Environments

Ajax3d.org - An effort to build 3D online worlds using both Ajax and the X3D open standards. Seems a bit quiet over there, but there is some activity on the forums.

OpenGL.org - A standard for 3D, cross-platform, cross-device development since 1992.

Web3d.org - A project that is working to develop an open standards, royalty free, system based in XML. The goal is for it to work between the Web, networks, and mobile devices from the same development and render full 3D environments.

Commercial 3D Tools

3ds Max - One of the top tier makers of 3D programs, offers different programs for different jobs, expect to spend several thousand dollars.

Animation Master - This program will let you create still images as well as animation. Offers annual subscription plan or one-time purchase pricing.

Bryce - This program boasts of its landscapes, but from watching their demo reel, it is capable of a lot more, and is reasonably priced.

LightWave - High end 3D modeling that has been used in movies such as Sin City and 300. Will cost you around $1,000 at the high end of pricing.

Modo - A rich 3D tool used by architects, package designers, animators and more. Price is in the $900 range.

Maxon - Is capable of lighting, polygons, animating, texturing and more. Works well with Adobe.

OpenWorlds.com - Used by groups as large as NASA, you can find uses for learning apps, ecommerce, gaming and more.

3D Box Maker Professional - A shareware licensed tool to create 3D software-style boxes such as the one pictured in the screenshot. Perfect for the small software developer.

Posted by brian tiong at 03:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

(* Source: Jason Kincaid *) 

Jason reports... 

The iPhone, with cult-like users and location aware technology, is the perfect social networking device. Earlier this year we speculated that someone would emerge with a killer social networking app for the iPhone. It turns out that there are lots of contenders.

Loopt

Loopt - Think of Loopt as a simple social network to find local businesses, message friends and send status updates with where you are (using the iPhones location technology). And a key difference with Loopt and many of the other networks below: you can meet new people who are nearby, if they choose to share that information. If everyone used this, you could see who’s single in a bar before you approach them (and flirt with them by phone first), and know the first name and job of everyone at that cocktail hour at the tech conference. We’re big fans of Loopt, and will have more news on them later today. For now, download the free application here.

Limbo

Limbo - Limbo is another geo-aware social network that behaves like a mashup of Twitter, Loopt, and Whrrl. One of the app’s most compelling features is its grid-like diagram that visually groups your friends according to what they’re doing (for example, all of your friends that are Out Drinking will be lumped together, even if they aren’t necessarily drinking in the same place). The app accomplishes this feat by forcing users to select from a predefined hierarchal list of activities (while this might sound restrictive, the list is pretty comprehensive). This categorization allows users to see what they’re friends are up to without having to sift through each of their messages.

On the geo-positioning front, Limbo allows users to interact users who are within a close radius (about a quarter mile), in a manner that is similar to Loopt. You can download the app here for free.

Posted by brian tiong at 02:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

(* Source: Erik Schofeld *)

Erik reports...

Music-streaming service Last.fm is now paying unsigned artists royalties for every song played on its service. Since the company announced the program last January, 70,000 artists and small music labels have signed up for it and uploaded 450,000 tracks.

What Last.fm is doing here is creating an alternative to the official royalty-collecting organization for musicians (i.e., SoundExchange). Last year, the royalty rates for music streamed over the Internet were raised, making it more difficult for ad-supported music startups to stay in business. Last.fm got bought by CBS, so it’s not in danger of going under. And for any song owned by a label or artist who participates in SoundExchange, Last.fm continues to pay the going Internet radio royalty rate. But it is beginning to bypass Sound Exchange by giving new, unsigned artists an alternative.

By cutting out the middlemen (labels, SoundExchange), Last.fm claims that artists that sign up for the program will receive more than twice the royalty rate they would see if the same song played on commercial radio. That’s because the money goes directly to the artist. (The total royalty, though, is less than what it pays SoundExchange). The royalty that Last.fm is paying unsigned artists is equivalent to 10 percent of the advertising revenues associated with their songs (update: in certain cases, see below). Musicians get a quarterly check, and can withdraw the money once it reaches $10.

We’re not talking a lot of money here, a few fractions of a penny per song. But as the online music industry grows, and along with it online advertising targeted at music listeners, these numbers in aggregate could start to become meaningful.

More importantly, it creates a direct economic link between Last.fm and up and coming artists that have not yet been discovered or signed by a label. The program is also appealing to tiny labels that don’t participate in SoundExchange because they are too small or it is too much of a hassle. (Anyone who already collects royalties through SoundExchange is not eligible for the program). Of the 170,000 signups so far, 30 percent are labels. And daily artist account creation in general is up 60 percent since the announcement in January.

Since it is Last.fm’s program, it controls the royalty rates it pays out, which it can adjust according to how much advertising revenues these songs generate. Now, does anyone actually want to listen to these songs and ill musicians shift over in massive numbers from the labels to this sort of direct arrangement? That is what will determine how disruptive this really is.

Posted by brian tiong at 04:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

(* Source: Mark Hefflinger *)

Mark reports...

A week after signing Colombian pop star Shakira to a reported $70-$100 million "360 deal," concert promotion giant Live Nation (NYSE: LYV) announced on Tuesday that it signed a new multi-faceted contract with Canadian rock band Nickelback. Under the deal, financial details of which were not disclosed, Live Nation acquired a vast array of rights for the band, including three touring and album cycles, tour sponsorship, merchandise, VIP/travel packages, secondary ticketing, clothing, licensing, non-tour sponsorship and endorsements, DVD and broadcast rights, fan club, website and literary rights.

Previously signed to EMI in Canada and Warner Music/Atlantic/Roadrunner Records in the rest of the world, Nickelback has sold more than 26 million albums worldwide.

The band's last tour of North America and Australia, in 2006-2007, sold more than 1.5 million tickets and grossed in excess of $67 million.

"This deal with Nickelback will enable us to fully capitalize on our vertically integrated platform to connect the band with their fans, monetizing our unparalleled reach to drive revenues and increase overall margins," said Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino.

"This partnership is structured to increase our revenue and cash flow potential significantly, while reducing our risk profile. This investment is cross collateralized, spread over multiple years and comprises multiple business opportunities."

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(* Source: John Biggs *) 

In the grand tradition of UPC codes and CueCat, ScanBuy/ScanLife is attempting to barcode the world. Their mission: to allow companies and individuals to place small barcodes on their publications that are readable by over 70 phone models including an upcoming application for the iPhone.

The 2d barcodes - meaning that unlike standard barcodes they are read in both the X and Y axis - can trigger menu events, download content, lead you to a website, or create a contact or calendar entry in your phone. They currently appear in outdoor ads, some magazines, as well as transit schedules in Europe. The program is actually compatible with multiple types of codes, ensuring international compatibility.

ScanLife wanted to offer TechCrunch users a chance to create their own EZCodes for placement on business cards, documents, and tattoos. You can download the application by texting SCAN to 43588 (U.S. only) or visiting www.getscanlife.com in your phone’s browser.

You can then get your own EZCode by visiting this link and typing in the invitation code techcrunch. One thousand invitations are available under this code.

The company, founded in 2000, is dedicated to making 2d barcodes a mainstay of the modern experience. Current ScanLife users can scan the barcode below to receive a special surprise.

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(* Source: Mike Arrington *) 

Mike says... 

Facebook is continuing its war on Facebook apps that push the limits on acceptable user interaction. Last week it was Slide’s Top Friends App, which it briefly suspended. Later Facebook also suspended another popular app, Social Me.

This time they’re targeting Slide’s rival RockYou and their Super Wall application, which tends to have a lot of spammy user content. But instead of shutting down the application wholesale, they’ve simply turned off the viral components of the app - invitations, notifications, etc.

The consequences have been just as dramatic. A month ago Super Wall had 2.4 million average daily users. Today it’s 600,000 and falling fast.

RockYou CEO Lance Tokuda confirmed that Facebook had shut down features of Super Wall, but says they’re working with Facebook to fix the issues and expect things to return to normal soon.

One thing is clear in all this: Facebook is serious about slapping down app developers who go too far in their efforts to grab new users.

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(* Source: Victor Keegan *) 

Victor says... 

The growing success of Facebook - now well ahead of MySpace - has forced the latter to revamp itself, building on its core strength of music. If MySpace becomes more of a niche player, albeit a huge one, then it may simply be part of a trend. Niche is the new buzzword. There are already lots of niche networking sites including linkedin.com, plaxo.com, xing.com and asmallworld.net. But there are new niche networks in the pipeline including two - would you believe it - from Britain with global ambitions. They are simple and, unlike the startups in the dotcom boom, they think they know how to make money.

One of the most interesting, Finerday, was launched this week, triggering the question - why on earth was something so blindingly obvious not developed before? A commercial site, supported by Age Concern, it enables older people to network and stay in touch with their families and vice versa. There are other similar sites, such as eons.com in the US and Saga Zone in the UK but they lack several factors that Finerday hopes will be killer apps: old people don't just want to talk to older people, they want to be in touch with their extended families wherever they are in the world: they want everything to be simple and they want an easy, affordable computer.

I only saw a pre-release version of Finerday, but it was enough to tell me that if - a big if - it works properly, it could be a big success. It has a simple, colourful interface with icons for messages, photos, diary, shopping, fun etc. Fun is subdivided into games, television and radio with buttons in big letters to press and play. One option, "Send a gift", takes you to well-known brands with customised suggestions, giving the site a potentially lucrative revenue stream. But the interesting thing is that within months it hopes to offer a package including simple installation by an internet service provider and one of the new generation of cheap computers - in this case an Acer - customised for older people with a large screen, simple buttons and a price as near £200 as they can get it.

Coincidentally, I have just received a phone called Emporia Life with big keys and a red emergency button for older people. The computer world has suddenly realised that, just as there are a billion poorer people in the world wanting to buy cheap, customised computers, so there is a vast, and fast-growing market of older people wanting the same.

Another interesting site set to launch soon, Basedrift.com, couldn't be more different. It aims to marry console-style gaming with a community site that looks a bit like a digital version of the X Factor. Instead of aggregating a mass of content around users like MySpace, Basedrift encourages them to put up videos, photos, music, text or other achievements in special galleries - from urban dancing to girl of the month - with punters voting through (lucrative) text messages in the hope of getting glitzy prizes. Co-director Dom Penrice claims it is unusual because participants are competing and communicating with other people (providing the company with a fan base it can exploit) and that if you don't win you can still qualify for rewards. Helped by a marketing campaign, he hopes to have a niche market of 350,000 users by the middle of next year. I have been shown a demo, though wasn't able to test it myself - but it looks different and is one to watch.

If you are not convinced that social networks are going niche, then how about myrl.com. I was alerted to it by Christian Ahlert who runs the Minibar in London for budding entrepreneurs and is advising Finerday. It is a social network (not yet public) for avatars in virtual worlds such as There.com and Second Life so they can communicate with each other across virtual borders. If avatars need their own network, can any other niche community be immune from this new trend?

Posted by brian tiong at 02:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

(* Source: Jason Kinad *)

Jason says.. 

We’ve seen a number of music sites like Seeqpod and Grooveshark that leverage user-uploaded music scattered across the web to offer free, on-demand jukeboxes. These services manage to skirt legal repercussions by only serving content that is hosted on other sites, which makes them harder to sue (though some have tried).

Streamzy, a media search startup that launched earlier this year, has taken this approach one step further. Instead of trying to index user-generated content, Streamzy uses Seeqpod’s database as a content source, which it further refines by weeding out broken links. The site, which used to only support audio, has just introduced video playback as well.

Streamzy offers a streamlined (and much improved) interface for Seeqpod’s content, sporting a minimalist player that neatly labels each song by title and artist name. Beyond basic media playback, Streamzy also offers an intuitive drag-and-drop playlist maker that users can save for future reference. In the future the company plans to allow for users to embed playlists on their blogs and social network profiles.

Streamzy isn’t much more than a resigned interface for Seeqpod, but it’s a redesign that was badly needed. And while it will have a hard time differentiating itself from the likes of Jogli, Songza, Soundflavor and a number of others, it’s a good place to start for music on demand.

Posted by brian tiong at 02:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

(* Source: Jason Kincaid *)

Jason says.. 

Regator, a new blog aggregator that hopes to reduce the blogosphere down to consumable chunks for the average user, has launched today in private beta. The site acts like a combination between Digg and a standard RSS reader, allowing users to vote on the most popular stories drawn from 3,000 blogs that have been hand-picked by Regator editors. TechCrunch readers looking to try the site can get one of 100 invites here by entering the code “techcrunch”.

The Ajax-heavy site seems best suited for users who aren’t interested in heavy-duty blog reading. There’s no way to add an RSS feed that isn’t already on the site, and the sharing options seem to be limited compared to more mature offerings like Google Reader. Each story has voting arrows which allow users to determine the most popular articles - a nice touch, but one that may turn Regator into a Digg-clone instead of a more general news reader.

Beyond standard text search, Regator offers an audio and video search across its indexed blogs, but the results aren’t always appropriate - a video search for “Yahoo” yielded a YouTube trailer for the movie Wanted as the second highest hit.

Regator will see competition from a number of blog aggregators, which include Blogged, which launched a similar feature yesterday, and TechMeme, which uses an algorithm rather than user input to rate top stories.

Posted by brian tiong at 01:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

(* Source: eMarketer *) 

Google tosses its hat into the Web measurement ring.

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