SheenOnline

Vibe Holdings LLC has announced an investment from Magic Johnson Enterprises and Ron Burkle’s The Yucaipa Companies. Vibe Holdings is a leading multi-cultural media company featuring celebrated brands like Vibe Magazine, Vibe.com, Uptown Magazine and the iconic Soul Train TV show and library.

As part of the investment Earvin “Magic” Johnson will become Chairman of Vibe Holdings, utilizing his “unparalleled business acumen” to fuel continued growth at Vibe Holdings through the creation of advertiser-friendly platforms. Johnson is a “venerated and proven architect” of niche market development.

“The mission of Magic Johnson Enterprises is focused on building mutually beneficial relationships between corporations and the underserved urban market. Through programs designed to cultivate the existing profit potential of this burgeoning, and frequently neglected demographic, we are able to revitalize and maximize profit margins. Currently the landscape of modern media lacks a platform to serve this community on a global scale.” — Earvin “Magic” Johnson

Peter Kern, Managing Partner, InterMedia Partners, says they are “excited” to have Magic Johnson and Ron Burkle as partners and that they “have already assembled a great group of assets and brands which have strong momentum in the market; with the help of our new partners, we believe we can build a leading platform for our core audiences and for advertisers who need to reach them.”

Magic definitely has plans for the future of Vibe Holdings, saying “history and legacy are paramount in building brand affinity and we plan to integrate this ideology into the resurgence of Vibe Holdings. Through leveraging established brand equity we will create a pertinent message vehicle for major advertisers. We will redefine Vibe Holdings as the center of influence for the coveted urban audience.”

WSJ reports that “people familiar with the matter” say Apple has started production on the new iPad. The device will include a camera and a faster processor. While the display resolution will remain the same, the device is supposed to ship with a faster graphics processor.

The new iPad will be thinner and lighter than the first model, these people said. It will have at least one camera on the front of the device for features like video-conferencing, but the resolution of the display will be similar to the first iPad, these people said. It will also have more memory and a more powerful graphics processor, they said.

Even without Steve Jobs in the driver’s seat, Apple seems to be continuing to move forward. This makes sense as the iPad is critical to Apple’s bottom line and the competition isn’t slowing up at all. The iPad should debut within the next couple of months in a similar price range as the current iPad.

Piper Jaffray & Co. estimates Apple will sell 27 million iPads in 2011, and some investors expect as many as 35 million units in sales. “It’s going to be a critical growth driver,” said Gene Munster, an analyst with Piper Jaffray.

On the flip side, with competition like the Samsung Galaxy Tab and HP’s upcoming WebOS tablet, research firm IHS iSuppli estimates the iPad’s market share will decline to less than 50% of the overall market by 2013.

It remains to be seen how successful the iPad will continue to be when it may not offer many of the features other tablets are packing.

via WSJ.com

Visa has agreed to acquire virtual goods monetization platform PlaySpan for $190 million in real life cash. The $190 million is the first payment, with additional payouts to follow for PlaySpan reaching certain milestones. Visa says this deal will compliment their previous acquisition of the CyberSource e-payment company for $2 billion and will extend their presence in the digital and mobile commerce.

PlaySpan has raised almost $50 million in funding since their launch four years ago. They have forged partnerships with the likes of Viacom, Disney, Facebook, Ubisoft, and Sanrio. Their flagship product UltimatePlay recently launched a mobile version which allows developers to easily incorporate virtual goods into their.

PlaySpan’s flagship product UltimatePay is a ‘Monetization as a Service’ platform for apps, games, videos and digital goods. Based on the user’s location, the payments platform draws from over 85 different payment options. Because of its vast variety of payment options (which include PayPal, pre-paid cards, and a number of credit cards), UltimatePay is designed for a global audience. Currently, PlaySpan powers virtual goods marketplaces across 1,000 video games, virtual world publishers and social networks.

eCommerce sales is big business for Visa. PlaySpan will help Visa capitalize on the growing digital goods market, which generated an estimated $25 billion in consumer spending globally in 2010 and is expected to reach $280 billion by 20143.

via TechCrunch, PlaySpan

It’s not looking good for Nokia’s sole weapon in the battle against Google and Apple. Android and iOS are the mobile operating systems to beat and Nokia’s Meego was supposed to be the challenger. The N9-00 was to be the first device running the Meego operating system, but Reuters reports the device has already been canned.

Nokia (NOK1V.HE) has ended development of its first smartphone using its new MeeGo operating system before it was ever launched, two industry sources close to the company said. A spokesman for Nokia declined to comment.

The device hasn’t even been officially launched yet. Not a good look for Nokia. Of course, it’s possible we may still see the device at Nokia’s event on Friday or at Mobile World Congress next week. Since the device was really just rumor, rumors of it being killed off don’t mean much.

So really, this is a lot like saying something that didn’t exist still doesn’t exist. – Engadget

Xperia Play (Playstation Phone) to Verizon?

In a comparison chart between the iPhone 4 and the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play, Wirefly has listed the device with Verizon as the carrier. Having the iPhone 4 and the Xperia Play could be a big win for “Big Red,” but Sony Ericsson hasn’t played favorites in the past so it’s unlikely they will have any type of exclusive relationship. The Xperia will be available on every single carrier in the UK starting in April, so it’s logical they would pursue a similar strategy in the US. The Xperia Play will be announced this Sunday, February 13th.

The Sprint Echo is turning a lot of heads since its launch yesterday. The device features not one, but two 3.5-inch 480 x 800 displays which unfold into a single 4.7-inch 960 x 800 surface. The device, manufactured by Kyocera, has a patented “liquid-metal” hinge which provides multiple configurations for the device. You can close it up and use it like a single-screen phone, open it up like a mini-surface, or prop it up like a baby laptop.

Kyocera has customized seven core apps to take advantage of the dual screens, including the browser, email, and messaging. There is also a dual-screen app launcher which is accessed by tapping both screens simultaneously. Unfortunately, all other apps will just take up the whole screen as they don’t support the dual-screen hardware, but Kyocera and Sprint say an SDK is coming.

Many love this device at first sight, but many think it will fail. Some have even compared it to the Microsoft Kin. Coming from Sprint, you’d expect the Echo to be 4G-capable, but it’s not. It also only has one camera, a rear-facing 5 megapixel camera with 720p video capture.

While the dual-screens seem like a killer feature, the fact that developers will need to re-write their applications to support it is less than optimal. It also opens the door for more fragmentation. We will have to see how the Echo does once it’s launched later this year.

via engadget

Today, in a conference call with reporters, Keith Olbermann announced he will be hosting a one-hour primetime show on Current TV, the Emmy Award-winning television and online network founded in 2005 by Al Gore and Joel Hyatt.

Olbermann will also step in as “chief news officer” for Current. Beginning in late spring, Olbermann says the new show will be “an improved and we hope amplified and stronger version of the show that I just did at my previous network.”

After recently leaving MSNBC, rumors circulated as to where Olbermann would end up. Chairman of Current TV Al Gore said he is “extremely honored and delighted” to have Olbermann at Current and he is a “great fit with Current in every way.”

When asked if Olbermann would be able to donate to political candidates in his position at Current, a practice with got him in hot water with his previous employer, Gore said “”The answer is yes. We believe at Current that every citizen has freedom of speech, and that freedom of speech includes the ability to donate to candidates of your choice.”

via Huffington Post, Current TV

Today, OpenX upgrades their ad technology platform to make it easier for publishers. OpenX is currently serving ads on thousands of websites worldwide. They serve more than 350 billion ads per month.

Many of the features of sodapdf are free, but some are not. If you use a feature that’s not covered by the free version, the saved file will have a watermark attached to the corners of every page.

This latest update provides a single and efficient interface for publishers to manage their ad revenue stream and more. Visit http://sidekickperformance.com
if you happen to be needing a laser cutter.

Another noteworthy component of the OpenX Enterprise platform is an integrated data collection and targeting system that allows publishers to use both proprietary and third-party data to enable audience-based media buying across their entire inventory.

This update brings a complete API framework with an object-oriented design which should allow developers to easily integrate OpenX with other software components. Services like Groupon, who have been using OpenX for ads on their website and email blasts, stand to benefit from this advanced interface.

via TechCrunch

The latest Google doodle aims to stimulate the imagination as Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (free Google books download) did for many. In a post, Google Doodler Jennifer Hom recounts how the book sent her imagination into hyper drive.

Today’s doodle, celebrating Verne’s 183rd birthday, tries to capture that sense of adventure and exploration. Using CSS3 (and with help from our resident tech wizards Marcin Wichary and Kris Hom), the doodle enables anyone to navigate the Nautilus down (nearly) 20,000 leagues with the simple pull of a lever. And for those using devices with built-in accelerometers and the latest versions of Google Chrome or Firefox, it’s even simpler—just tilt your device in the direction you want to explore and the Nautilus will follow.

The Google logo now looks like a collection of portholes or a window looking out into the deep of the ocean. The lever to the right allows you to navigate up, down, and tilt right or left. This exposes more of the surrounding scenery and wild life. It would be awesome if this worked on my Android smartphone as it would be interesting to see how this plays with the accelerometer. As you navigate the murky deep, be sure to keep an eye out for giant squid.

via Official Google Blog

As of today, Gawker has a brand new look that has many scratching their heads. The new look is a simpler 2-pane design the defies the default blog-style layout. The landing pages for sites like Gawker.com, Jezebel, and Lifehacker now show a single featured post with a list of other content down the side. Gone is the reverse-chronological order of posts that greets your on most blogging sites.

“It just feels inevitable,” Denton says. “We have a crying need to showcase both exclusives and visual posts. The visual posts are now at least half of our top-performing stories. And audience growth on sites like Deadspin and Gawker has been driven by our most sensational scoops.”

Images now dominate the Gawker network, which makes for an easy to look at experience, except for one problem. The Gawker.com site isn’t displaying anything. Neither is Gizmodo. Visiting either gives you something like the shot below.

While Jezebel, Lifehacker and others are simply having a few design glitches here and there, Gawker and Gizmodo are completely blank except for the list of stories down the site. Clicking through to an individual post on the right, or clicking Next Post at the bottom brings you to the content but, for the moment, many visitors are just confused. If you would rather view any of the Gawker sites with a standard blog layout, hit the button immediately left of the Home button at the top of the right sidebar.

Many were none too thrilled when Essence redesigned their site a while back. Twitter completely revamped their homepage, forcing many Twitter developers to completely change their strategy. MySpace has also had a recent redesign aimed at capturing a younger audience. When Google tweaked Google News, many users were plain angry about it, while the NAACP site redesign made it easier to use and stepped up their media game. Let’s not even get into the numerous changes Facebook has gone through, fighting their users the entire way.

It’s a daring move any time a web property does a redesign. Some will like it, most will probably hate it. At the end of the day, you at least have to make sure it doesn’t completely break your site. Even if it does, you would think a popular site like Gawker would have had a Plan B already in place.

via WSJ, NiemenLab

According to an ad from Best Buy, we should be seeing the Motorola Xoom Android tablet launched on February 24th. The ad prices the device at $799.99 with a data plan starting at $20 per month for 1GB and going up to $80 per month for 10GB. This is apparently identical to current data plans for the Samsung Galaxy Tab through Verizon.

So, the $700-$800 price range that has been rumored along with a February launch date all seem likely for tablet fans anticipating the Xoom. Motorola has also launched a portal site for the Xoom which features their Super Bowl ad.

The ad references Apple’s 1984 ad, featuring a sterile civilization with a bunch of people in white wearing white earbuds….except for the one normal guy with a Motorola Xoom tablet. He appears to be using the tablet’s navigation feature to find his new job. The ad appears to hint that, when it comes to the tablet market, most people just aren’t paying attention to what’s important. Check it out below.

via Engadget

Following their strategy to become the premier content network with local, national, and international reach, AOL has agreed to acquire the Huffington Post for $315 million, approximately $300 million of which will be paid in cash funded from cash on hand. Founded in 2005, The Huffington Post currently sees about 25 million unique visitors per month. The rapidly growing site covers news, analysis, and lifestyle.

“The acquisition of The Huffington Post will create a next-generation American media company with global reach that combines content, community, and social experiences for consumers. Together, our companies will embrace the digital future and become a digital destination that delivers unmatched experiences for both consumers and advertisers.” — Tim Armstrong, Chairman and CEO of AOL

This isn’t just a simple acquisition. Arianna Huffington, The Huffington Post’s co-founder and editor-in-chief, will be named president and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post Media Group. This group will include all Huffington Post and AOL content, including Engadget, TechCrunch, Moviefone, MapQuest, Black Voices, PopEater, AOL Music, AOL Latino, AutoBlog, Patch, StyleList, and more.

“This is truly a merger of visions and a perfect fit for us,” said Huffington, “We are fusing a legendary and powerful new media brand with a vibrant, innovative news organization, known for its distinctive voice, a highly engaged audience, an expertise in community-building, and a track record for demystifying the news and putting flesh and blood on the data while drawing our audience into the conversation.”

Tim Armstrong added, “Arianna is a singularly passionate and dedicated champion of innovative journalistic engagement, and a master of the art of using new media to illuminate, entertain and enhance the national conversation. Arianna is a remarkable person and she will continue to create remarkable outcomes for the combined company.” The transaction is expected to close in the late first- or early second-quarter 2011.

via The Huffington Post

Microsoft Bing Still Denies Copying Google

We covered the details of this earlier in the week, but the debate is still raging. Matt Cutts has written another post regarding the apparent copying that Bing has been doing from the Google Search engine results.

First off, let me say that I respect all the people at Bing. From engineers to evangelists, everyone that I’ve met from Microsoft has been thoughtful and sincere, and I truly believe they want to make a great search engine too. I know that they work really hard, and the last thing I would want to do is imply that Bing is purely piggybacking Google. I don’t believe that.

That said, I didn’t expect that Microsoft would deny the claims so strongly. Yusuf Mehdi’s post says “We do not copy results from any of our competitors. Period. Full stop.”

The post includes a slew of screenshots showing nonsense queries created by Google that miraculously ended up showing up in Bing search results. I think the bottom line here is that, whether they’ve intentionally copied Google or not, the result is the same: Bing seems to be feeding you what amounts to a carbon copy of what you’d find on Google. Some argue that the information is open and free for the taking. Some say that technologies copy each other all the time. I think I’d rather just go to the source than deal with a middleman. Check the video below for details.

Android Overtakes Nokia As Top Selling Smartphone

Canalys reports that Android has moved 33.3 million handsets in the last quarter, moving them ahead of previous leader Nokia/Symbian at 31 million. In Q3, Android moved 20.3 million units, so this is a huge jump in Q4. This means that Android accounts for 32.9% of smart phones worldwide. According to NPD, Android has grown to over half (53 percent) of all consumer smartphone sales in the US. Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 debuted at 2 percent of the overall U.S. smartphone market.

Egypt Restores Internet Connectivity

The uprising in Egypt has been a hot topic all week with the Egyptian government shutting down Internet and cellular service in an attempt to prevent protesters from organizing. This highlights the importance of Facebook and Twitter as communications platforms as these were the primary targets of the shutdown. In an effort to make sure Egyptians still had a voice, Google and newly-acquired SayNow worked in combination with Twitter to create @Speak2Tweet. This allows users to tweet by dialing a phone number from a landline and speaking.

Internet connectivity was restored after President Hosni Mubarak announced he would not seek re-election in September, but this sweeping Internet shutdown seems to have implications in the US. In Egypt, the government has the authority to demand that ISPs shut down. There are only five feeding the entire country, apparently. In the US, the infrastructure is a bit more complicated. It might be possible technically to do something similar, but the government here does not have the authority. Of course, there is legislation in the works that could give the president emergency powers over the Internet.

The legislators involved are obviously trying to distance themselves from the Egypt situation and say that there are “protections to prevent the president from denying Americans access to the Internet — even as it provides ample authority to ensure that those most critical services that rely on the Internet are protected.”

via WSJ, CNN

Preorders for Verizon customers opened yesterday and, as of 8:10 p.m. last night, they’ve been sold out. According to Verizon, the Thursday morning launch moved more units than in any previous phone launch. All this happened in a mere two hours.

If you were lucky enough to get your order in before they shut it down, you may have already received an email from Verizon about the shipment of your shiny new CDMA iPhone. According to Engadget, the estimated delivery date is February 7th, “a whole 72 hours before everyone else gets it.”

If you didn’t snatch one today, you’ll have another chance to get your order in online at 3:01 AM on February 9th. You can also hit up the stores on the 10th, which will probably involve American Idol-style lines and waiting. There might be camping involved.

Did you already get your order in, going camping, or waiting to see how it all turns out?

via The Associated Press, 9 to 5 Mac

Chronic Dev Team has released a new iOS 4.2.1 jailbreak that is untethered, meaning you will be able to reboot your phone without connecting it to your computer first. GreenPoisOn RC5 only works on Mac OS X, but a Windows version should be coming soon. You can use this new jailbreak for just about any iOS 4.2.1 device, including: iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad, Apple TV 2nd Gen, and iPod 2nd (2nd, 3rd, and 4th gen).

If you rely on carrier unlock on your iPhone 4, you do not want to update to 4.2.1 or mess with this jailbreak at all as you will be unable to unlock your phone. The servers are being brutally attacked at the moment, so you may have trouble even obtaining GreenPoisOn RC5 an might consider waiting a while. Some have had trouble during the initialization phase. If you’ve used the 4.3 beta, you may also have trouble.

Another important thing to note here is that it’s quite possible, although definitely just speculation, that iOS 4.3 will launch sometime within the next few weeks. Check out the video for instructions on running the exploit.

via Redmond Pie