by Sujoy on March 7, 2008
American Idol Season 7 is on and the Final 12 have been just announced. However, that is not what I’m gonna discuss here. American Idol has been associated with iTunes or vice-versa since this season. And this has actually spawned a business of its own. Take a look at this example. The contestants perform a song of their choice based on a particular theme. It was the 80′s theme during the Top 16 week, and Jason Castro performed Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”. Simon Cowell announced that Jeff Buckley’s version of the same song is his favorite. Now here’s the business. Not only did Jason Castro’s performance hit the high note on the iTunes download charts, but it also brought Jeff Buckley’s single to the limelight. It features now at no.2 of iTunes download charts, and no.1 is another Idol performance, David Archuleta’s rendition of John Lennon’s “Imagine”. Music from Idol is available for download on iTunes for 0.99$ and Videos for 1.99$. Apple should actually be very happy with the association with Fox Network’s Star Reality TV show which has not only brought more music to the catalog, but also brought old tracks back to life. And who’s the winner here- Apple for sure!!!
by Sujoy on March 6, 2008
Yeah we all do agree that YouTube rules. In terms of the user-base, no.of videos available, no.of videos being watched, geography, and most importantly the availability of almost anything when you search for it. It has become the video version of Wikipedia integrated with Google. But yeah, the downside is that the Video quality still sucks and the occasional downtime ( for non-US users like me) irritates me to the core. Well Stage6 is closed and so until YouTube launches its High resolution Video upload functionality, we might have to watch out for better alternatives to free Internet Video entertainment. Here are a few really GOOD ONEs. Enjoy. Not in any order whatsoever.
1.Blip.TV:- The link is http://blip.tv. The beauty here is the there is no limit to the video size for upload. It doesn’t support online video editing. One of my favorites are on Blip, and they are Goodnight Burbank. The show is also syndicated on other video sites as well, but unknowingly, I like watching it on Blip.
2.DailyMotion:-The link is http://www.dailymotion.com .Everything is similar to Youtube, only better video streaming. And uploading is a charm. [Continue Reading]
by Sujoy on February 7, 2008
Now Mixx has been around for quite some time now. I have been an avid user of this social bookmarking/networking website and I quite loved the services that it provided. It’s user friendly interface and user-base made up for almost all of its shortcomings. But yes, the need for a Mixx Mail Service was felt. Not anymore. Introducing, Ladies and Gents! the Mixx Mail.
Now you can send a Mixx message or mail to your Mixx friends, as you do on other social bookmarking websites. I have quite a few friends on Mixx, and have always felt the need to communicate with a user before adding him/her up. Now, I can do that easily. The Mixx Mail service can be used by clicking on the little mail envelope icon that appears next to your User ID on your profile page. You can select whom to send the message, and even conveniently select all of your friends. There’s no CAPTCHA code here. Good Thing-Bad Thing, You decide! As far as I am concerned, I think Mixx is consistently working to improve its services and I’m loving it. More so because, it’s easier now to share stuff now on Mixx, now with a personal touch. What’s more lovely is the way Mixx Mail looks when you send a message across many friends. It could actually turn out to be like a discussion thread with the latest post in the bottom. So forums, messages and discussions all covered at one single strike.Go Mixx!!
by Sujoy on February 5, 2008
Yeah, I know. Yet another half fried post on the entire episode of Microsoft’s bid for the slumping Internet giant Yahoo for a whooping $44.6 billion. Clearly, Microsoft is desperate enough to acquire Yahoo. But amongst all this, the question that remains is, is Google worried? Let’s chase it point by point as to what this deal could bring to the table, if it actually gets finalized. What could a “Microhoo” actually mean?
It means that the 600 million combined user-base of Hotmail (Windows Live Mail) and Yahoo could well be way ahead of what Gmail has. But as Scoble indicates, is there any solid reason for Google to be really worried about this deal? Of course, officials at Google aren’t very happy with the hostile bidding of Microsoft over Yahoo.
David Drummond, Senior VP at Google Inc. writes what this deal could actually churn out if Microsoft continues its legacy of monopolising Operating Systems and Internet Browsers. What if Microsoft loses all business ethics, once it acquires Yahoo, and uses it solely for its good by forcing users to use its Web-Based Services, integrated into Mail, IM, PhotoSharing et al.
The war will still continue with OpenSource technologies adopting everything Google, but this deal is a clear indication of the challenge that Google faces. Clearly, Google with the Android campaign is steering its way towards finding a huge presence or rather dominance in the Mobile World. And with the presence of Web Applications like Google Maps and Youtube, I believe Microsoft even if they acquire Yahoo, will have a long long way to go.And now the second question that emerges is, what if..ahem! Google outbids?
Image Courtesy:johnnie.maneiro
