Author: Rahsheen on Black Web 2.0

Back in September, everyone gasped as Apple launched the social network Ping, built inside of iTunes. Of course, the excitement quickly dissipated as everyone realized Ping wasn’t social at all. It was an information silo and didn’t even appear ready for the masses. Facebook and Apple even got into it, resulting in Facebook blocking Ping from full integrating with Facebook. A block that is still in place to this day.

All is not lost, though. Ping is finally starting to show itself to be somewhat social and possibly even useful with deep Twitter integration. From the Twitter Blog:

Starting today Ping, iTunes’ new social network for music, and Twitter are making it even easier for people to share music discoveries with their friends by putting Ping activity, song previews and links to purchase and download music from the iTunes Store right in their Tweets on Twitter.com.

The integration goes both ways. Once you connect your Twitter account to Ping, your activities in Ping will be automatically tweeted to your Twitter followers. I put “automatically” in bold to remind you to check your settings in iTunes and adjust accordingly. You may not want every minute activity you do broadcasted to Twitter.

On the Twitter end, these tweets from Ping will include special links that show you more detail about the song or album right alongside your Twitter stream. You can view the details and even play previews without leaving the Twitter website. I knew this new Twitter was going to end up being useful for something.

What do you think about Twitter integration in Ping? Will it prompt you to give Ping another look? Are you already using Ping? Tell us about it.

via Twitter Blog, TechCrunch

Last night, the Boxee Box by D-Link officially started shipping. Boxee started off as software you could install on your computer which gave you access to online shows and videos. Rather than visiting a bunch of diferent web sites, Boxee pulls in all that content and stuffs it into a beautiful and easy to navigate interface. The Boxee windows client came out last June and Boxee announced the Boxee Box at the end of last year. Earlier this month, we got word that the Boxee Box would be launching on the 10th of this month and now it’s here.

Many of us have been watching more and more TV online and Boxee feels they are the best way to do it:

Tons of Movies and TV Shows, Netflix, VUDU and Hulu Plus

There is a whole generation out there for whom Movies and TV shows are synonymous with Netflix and Hulu. We have some good news for these users. Both Netflix and Hulu are going to be part of the Boxee Box.

If you’re like us, you are a Netflix member instantly watching unlimited TV episodes & movies, and you want to rent new titles from a service like VUDU. It’s a killer combo and both will work great for you on Boxee.

If you opt for a Hulu Plus account, you’ll be able to watch Hulu content on your Boxee Box. Netflix is coming by the end of the year. Early on, Boxee and Netflix didn’t get along so well. Hulu wasn’t too happy about its content showing up on Boxee, so they blocked the service early on. Now that Boxee has morphed into an actual piece of hardware, they’ve called a truce.

Unfortunately, Hulu is still blocking access to their free content for Boxee users and this block seems to have had unintended consequences. Many Windows 7 and Mac OS X users have been greeted with an error telling them that they’re trying to access the service “from Boxee” when they’re obviously not. According to Engadget, it seems that the problem has been fixed, but Hulu will need to think really hard about this whole Boxee blocking procedure. They are doing well for the time being, but can’t afford to lose any eyeballs.

Today at the NewTeeVee conference in San Francisco, Hulu CEO Jason Kilar revealed that Hulu has made $240 million in 2010 alone.

The online streaming service is flourishing: Hulu is projecting revenues of $240 million in 2010, more than double the company’s $108 million earnings last year. What’s more, the service now boasts more than 30 million monthly users, and Kilar said the number of Hulu Plus subscribers–its $9.99 monthly plan–is already “ahead of plan.”

When asked why Hulu Plus has ads, Kilar says they thought about going ad-free. After talking to 5,000 people, they found that users would rather a lower monthly cost with ads. I don’t blame them, I don’t even notice the ads anymore.

At around the same monthly cost as Netflix, Hulu Plus doesn’t seem to be offering as much value right now. Kilar did mention Netflix, though: “Hulu, Hulu Plus, and Netflix have all been consciously designed to be different and not a substitute for pay TV services in the living room.” Could they be working together?

Speaking of Hulu Plus, you can get it on your PS3 today. PlayStation hinted at the launch last week and it is now a reality. You could previously access some Hulu content via the Playstation Network.

How does this change from what was already available? Well, you no longer need to have a PlayStation Plus subscription to gain access and you don’t have to wait for an invitation from Hulu either. Beginning today, Hulu Plus is open to all PlayStation Network members in the U.S.

To get started, grab the free app from the PlayStation Store and visit www.ps3.com/hulu.

via Fast Company, Playstation Blog

A new official site from Apple confirms many of the features we talked about in our previous coverage of iOS 4.2 for iPad. Namely: Multitasking, Folders, Unified Inbox, Game Center, AirPlay, and AirPrint.

iOS 4 is the world’s most advanced mobile operating system. And soon iPad owners will get to enjoy its 100+ new features and innovations — including multitasking, folders, printing, and more. Look for iOS 4.2 coming in November for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch.

While there have been rumors that AirPrint would be cancelled, it’s obvious they are not true since AirPrint is plastered across this new site. The update will also include “enhanced enterprise support” with “stronger security features” and ” new device management capabilities.”

There is still no official release date, but some sources say it may be within the next few days. GigaOM recommends watching for the latest iTunes update, which usually precedes an iOS update.

Today, Andrew Keen interviewed Bruce Mehlman’s co-chair at the Internet Innovation Alliance, David Sutphen. Sutphen is a “one-time General Council to Senator Ted Kennedy and a prominent Democratic activist both in technology policy and civil rights.” Keen says of Sutphen:

It is no coincidence that Sutphen’s interests span both technology and civil rights. For him, technology policy needs to focus on fostering innovation in order to guarantee the core civil right of all American workers: jobs. From prospective network neutrality legislation to guaranteeing protection against intellectual piracy to broadband policy, Sutphen argues that Obama needs to find common ground with business and identify core policy areas where successful technological innovation can once again drive the general prosperity of the American economy.

Among other things, Keen asked some interesting technology questions, including:

• Are advocates of network neutrality against innovation
• How to solve network neutrality issue
• How can Obama win back Silicon Valley
• Why access to broadband is a civil rights issue

Sutphen talks about the whole net neutrality debate being a sideshow to a greater issue of broadband access. He also walks through how not having Internet access costs people money every year.

Full interview at TechCrunch

Sutphen expressed similar thoughts about the impact of broadband access on communities of color when we caught up with him at the NewMe Conference in May.

With Google Instant, search results show up instantly as you type your query. This lets you fine-tune your search on-the-fly to find exactly what you need. Of course, you’re limited to narrowing things down based on a page title and a brief description. How many times have you found a page with the exact phrases and keywords you needed in the title, but nothing useful once you clicked through? Google Instant Previews helps you save that unnecessary click by giving you a glimpse into the content from the results page:

Instant Previews provides a graphic overview of a search result and highlights the most relevant sections, making finding the right page as quick and easy as flipping through a magazine. To use it, click once on the magnifying glass next to the title of any search result and a visual overview of the page will appear on the right. From there, hover your cursor over any other result to see a preview.

According to Google, “people who use Instant Previews are about 5% more likely to be satisfied with the results they click.” The feature is now rolling out and should be available in more than 40 languages in the next few days.

Previews don’t count as clicks or affect your analytics in any way. This new feature doesn’t change how Google ranks pages or change their algorithms. Still, it will probably change user behavior and may affect your numbers. Check out the Google Webmaster blog for details there.

via ReadWriteWeb

While iOS 4.2 for iPad has not been officially released yet, there are leaked versions out there which show a bunch of major updates for Apple’s popular tablet device. Most notable are multitasking, Airplay, wireless printing, a unified inbox, and folders.

Multitasking: Similar to the iPhone and iPod Touch, you now have “multitasking” support on the iPad. This lets you switch between running apps without stopping off at the home screen. Once you’ve double-tapped the Home button to switch apps, a swipe to the right brings up audio controls. On the iPad, this section also includes rotation lock, volume, and brightness controls.

Folders: Stuff multiple apps into folders to save space on your home screen. While iPhone folders hold 12 apps, iPad folders can handle 20.

Email: All of your email accounts now show up in one place. Gmail users now have the option to archive emails instead of deleting them, as it should be.

Game Center: Apple’s social gaming hub now appears on the iPad. Icons for the “top Game Center games” appear around your scoreboard and link to the App Store.

AirPrint: This feature makes it possible to print wirelessly from your iPad. It will automatically discover the printers and let you print over the network. I think their is magic involved.

AirPlay: This features will let you stream media directly to your Apple TV, AirPort Express, or other AirPlay-compatible device.

via ReadWriteWeb

Rockmelt is a new browser that aims to add that social twist many users have been looking for. It’s a tough niche to fill, but Rockmelt thinks they have the right formula to make it work this time. According to Andreessen, general partner of Andreessen Horowitz, it’s just about the best thing since sliced bread:

“RockMelt is onto something huge. They’ve rethought the browser around the massive shifts in user behavior that will drive the Web over the next decade. RockMelt is the freshest, most innovative take on browsing since browsers were created. Eric and Tim have built a stellar team that will continue delivering breakthrough innovations.”

This concept should sound familiar as it’s the same thing Flock has been trying to do for years. In it’s original form, Flock was based on Firefox. Many users found it a bit too heavy for regular use. Once Chrome gained popularity, Flock ditched firefox for Chrome. With the launch of Rockmelt, Flock will definitely need to modify their marketing materials as they’re no longer the only game in town.

Rockmelt may have a head start as they are starting from scratch with a fresh perspective on how this whole social web browser thing should work. While it integrates with Twitter, Facebook, and whatever RSS feeds you decide to plug into it, it’s still the lightweight and snappy Chrome browser you might be used to.

Probably the most interesting thing about the launch of Rockmelt is that it makes me want to give Flock another try. I can’t say which is “better” just yet, but I think Rockmelt may have the edge on speed. Rockmelt is currently in a limited beta, but you can ask for an invite by connecting with them on Facebook from the Rockmelt home page. I connected last night and I’m using the browser as of this morning, so act fast.

via Engadget, GigaOM, Rockmelt

Kik is a messaging application and service for Android, Blackberry, and iOS devices that allows for free texting across all three platforms. The service re-launched about two weeks ago and quickly jumped from 0 to 1,000,000 users:

What an incredible couple of weeks. We re-launched Kik Messenger 15 days ago with 0 users, and at 12:43 PM EST today, we signed up our 1,000,000^th user. We didn’t expect this. We didn’t ask for it. But we couldn’t be happier or more excited.

We are humbled and honoured that so many people around the world have embraced Kik. For that, we can only say thank you to all our users. Every hour, 25,000 more people are discovering that Kik’s blazing fast, reliable and inexpensive data messaging is light years ahead of slow, unreliable, and expensive SMS messaging.

You read that right. They are apparently getting 25,000 new Kik users every hour. They service actually went down from 1:55pm EST to 8:25PM due to the load on the servers. It’s not a surprise that an app like Kik would take off. While many of us with smartphones also have unlimited data and SMS, many plans don’t include such luxuries. Kick solves a messaging problem that obviously affects a large number of mobile users.

They aren’t stopping there, though. Kik plans to expand the service to include detailed profiles, multimedia messaging, and a feature that they say will use an “incredibly powerful technology” they’ve developed to “wirelessly connect your smartphone to any PC or TV.” Not sure what that means just yet, but it sounds pretty cool.

Did you get Kik yet?

via Kik

The next generation of wireless networks is collectively known as 4G. At the forefront of this movement to faster mobile speeds is Sprint, which launched the first 4G device: The EVO4G. The curious thing is that Sprint does not own their 4G network, they are simply renting it from a little company called Clearwire. Sprint has a 54% stake in Clearwire and the relationship between the two companies is odd at best, with both going after the same set of customers while sharing the same 4G network.

While Clearwire is at the forefront of mobile technology, they are in the red as far as revenue. Even as their subscribers grow, they are facing a mountain of debt. They are set to cut 15% of their workforce, will stop expansions in all areas outside of those needed to hit its original launch goals, and delay the launch of some handsets. By making these cuts, they stand to save about $400 million over the next couple of years.

One would think that, given Sprint’s dependence on the Clearwire network, they would look into acquiring Clearwire outright, but as GigaOm points out, it’s complicated. Clearwire stock fell about 10% after the announcement as investors are concerned that these cutbacks will hurt growth. There is also a concern that Clearwire won’t be able to secure the financing it needs to expand.

Sharp Launching 3D Android Handsets in Japan

3D is all the rage in the entertainment industry. It follows that the mobile devices we have started carrying around all the time would head in the same direction. Sharp will be launching two 3D handsets in Japan based on the Android operating system. The biggest drawback, of course, is the fact that 3D requires goofy glasses. Don’t worry, no glasses required to get the full effect here.

Bearing the names Galapagos 003SH and 005SH, both handsets sport 1GHz Snapdragon CPUs, Android 2.2, and a 3.8-inch 3D-capable display with 800 x 480 pixel resolution. The main difference between the two phones is the full QWERTY keyboard on the 005SH, but 003SH makes up for it with a slightly better camera, a 9.6 megapixel model capable of recording 720p video, while 005SH sports a (still formidable) 8-megapixel camera.

via Mashable

Big Changes at Amplify

Amplify, the creative blogging/discussion platform, has made a few updates to refine the service and make it more interesting for publishers and folks just looking for a place to discuss stuff. The first feature addition lets you schedule posts for a later time.

For example, if you’re doing a lot of reading in the morning and want to sprinkle your clips throughout the day, you can easily do so. Or, if you come across something you want to post on Amplify but want it to coincide with a certain event in the future, you can easily schedule it for later.

An important point to note about this feature is that, combined with Amplify’s ability to broadcast your posts across all your social networks, they have become a general tool for scheduling posts and updates across the web. This is very powerful for those trying to build or maintain a brand and is also important for keeping your followers informed.

The default feed no longer shows comments, just the latest posts from those you follow. This is actually an effort to increase discussion and simplify the interface for new users. More posts will be visible because of the extra space. Amplify has also turned off email notifications on comments for all users. They believe this “can be annoying and overwhelming” while “the needs of the service provider over those of users.” Check you @Mentions tab to see relevant comments.

The Power of Google Instant in Your Pocket

If you’ve been enjoying Google Instant on your desktop, get ready to feel the power right in your pants, purse, or palm. The next time you visit Google.com on your mobile device, click the “Turn on” link under the search box to activate the Google Instant beta. It works pretty good, but there are some drawbacks. Primarily, the fact that your onscreen keyboard will hide half of the search page. Google Instant beta for mobile currently supports iOS4 and Android 2.2 (“Froyo”).

With Google Instant on mobile, we’re pushing the limits of mobile browsers and wireless networks. You will probably notice a big improvement in speed when you search thanks to a new AJAX and HTML5 implementation for mobile that dynamically updates the page with new results and eliminates the need to load a new page for each query.

via The Official Google Blog

Google Takes Its Toys and Goes Home

We have entered a new age where user data is becoming more and more important. Your social graph is a valuable commodity. Primary players in this identity trade include email providers like Gmail, Hotmail, and Yahoo as well as social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Up until now, everyone has allowed data import and export and played nice together…except Facebook. While they gobble up all the contact info they can get, Facebook doesn’t allow any entity, not even the user, to export their contacts. Google has finally said “Enough!” and will no longer give Facebook a free ride to import contact data without a reciprocal agreement.

So what does Google want from Facebook? Their definition of reciprocity requires that any service accessing its Contacts API offer an API of its own with similar functionality. This means it wants an API that it can access programmatically, without requiring the user to download and then re-upload a spreadsheet of contact data.

The age of data protectionism has begun and it’s not going to be pretty. Not only will innovation and technology suffer, but users will be affected as well. At this point, it doesn’t look like there is any way to turn things around unless everyone, especially Facebook, decides to play nice. I don’t see that happening, though.

via TechCrunch

Twitter for Android: Faster and More Polished

The new official Twitter client for Android is faster, snappier, and packs some interface tweaks that put it on par with its cousin on the iPhone. It includes features like Pull to Refresh, Swipe to Reveal, and Hi-Res Avatar photos. You can optionally quote a tweet (old-style retweets) instead of using the newer retweet feature. They paid special attention to how the interface is drawn to improve scrolling speed.

via Twitter

T-Mobile Goes In on AT&T

When a beef starts, you always have to look at who is naming names. That will usually tell you which party is either desperate, looking for some shine, or both. In this case, T-Mobile has launched a hilarious campaign against AT&T. They portray themselves as a pretty lady while AT&T is an old balding guy riding the iPhone’s…uh…back. An obvious spoof of the PC-Mac ads. T-Mobile is now calling themselves the “Largest 4G Network.”

via TechFlash

The original Web show “Keeping it Rich with Sakina” will soon première on BET.com. It’s described as a loosely based “financial reality” talk show and features award-winning personal finance journalist and entrepreneur Sakina Spruell Cole. Cole will “talk candidly with her personal financial advisors, colleagues and friends offering advice, information and tips on living the ‘rich’ life.” It is a four-part web series which will air four consecutive weeks beginning November 17th.

“I wanted to partner the KEEPING IT RICH WITH SAKINA show and BET.com because I believe together we can truly make an impact in closing the wealth gap,” says Sakina Spruell Cole, who is the host and CEO of Cole Media Inc which produces the show. “It is my hope that my comfort and candor in discussing my own financial situations leads viewers to become more communicative and thereby more savvy with their money.”

The Keeping It Rich brand is not just limited to a show. Since 2003, they’ve built a fan base of teens, students, and college-educated people from around the country. They offer a seminar and a column for college students. The key is in their “lively and upbeat format” and “easy to understand language” in educating their audience about building wealth.

“We believe this partnership also allows BET.com to offer responsible and educational content that is both entertaining and relatable to its audience.” — Sakina Spruell Cole

Previously known as “Project Natal,” Microsoft unveiled connect at their pre-E3 event this past June. Kinect is now available to the public in the US. Kinect is a motion controller for the XBox 360 that allows you to play games with your body. It works something like the Wii, but uses cameras to track your movements.

The Kinect is a glossy, foot-wide, black plastic horizontal bar. You plug its single cable into your Xbox. (If you have the bulkier, pre-2010 Xbox, you also have to plug the Kinect’s power cord into the wall.) You park the Kinect itself on, or beside, your TV. During start-up, a motor moves the bar on its stand, making it scan the room up and down like some would-be Wall-E.

Early reviews suggest that Kinect is definitely fun, but has some drawbacks. You need to have a huge space to play around in, literally. If you have a studio apartment or a cramped space in front of your TV, you may as well hang it up. Kinect won’t be able to see you unless you’re a good 7 feet away.

Reports from Gamespot say that Kinect has a problem seeing dark-skinned people. According to two GameSpot employees, one dark-skinned individual had a problem with the face-recognition feature. The problem seems to be related to HP’s seemingly racist face-tracking video cameras. A third dark-skinned person had no problems, so the results seem inconclusive at this point.

Despite its perceived drawbacks, Kinect does a lot of cool stuff. For instance, you can do video chat with other Xbox 360 owners in addition to chatting with people via Messenger.

Are you looking to Kinect?

via NYT, Windows Steam Blog, Wired

Skyfire was to be the solution to a major setback (as some see it) with Apple’s iPhone. It is the first iPhone browser that supports videos designed for Flash Player.

Note the careful wording here. Skyfire does not actually support Adobe Flash, but does some slick back-end work that allows the iPhone to play embedded flash videos.

Skyfire does this by translating the videos and bringing them to the native iPhone media player using the H.264 video codec. Adobe Flash technology is the most widespread format for videos and other rich content on the web, and now iOS consumers can access this broad content. (Note the solution focuses on video only; games and animations and full applications designed for Flash Player are not enabled with this solution.)

Once this functionality was announced, Skyfire went into high demand. It launched in the App Store yesterday and, after 5 hours, was “sold out.” According to the Skyfire blog:

The user experience was performing well for the first few hours, but as the surge continued, the peak load on our servers and bandwidth caused the video experience to degrade.

Thus we are effectively ‘sold out’ and will temporarily not accept new purchases from the App Store. We are working really hard to increase capacity and will be accepting new purchases from the App Store as soon as we can support it.

Quite unfortunate for those who didn’t get a chance to download the app. In those 5 hours, Skyfire for iPhone became the top grossing app, the third highest paid app overall and the top application in the Utilities category. Good deal for Skyfire, but they are going to need to get their servers on point if they want to keep raking it in like that.

via Blog | Skyfire