Category: Tech

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

Now that the iPhone is available on Verizon, AT&T is looking for a new partner in crime. Motorola’s Atrix 4G, which blurs the line between phone and computer, looks to be a good candidate. T-Mobile’s commercials depict AT&T as piggy-backing on the iPhone and this latest move doesn’t do much to change that perception.

To attract new customers, AT&T Mobility Chief Executive Ralph de la Vega said the forthcoming Motorola Atrix 4G will be the carrier’s leading device in its portfolio. Mr. de la Vega wouldn’t say how much money the carrier will spend on marketing the device, but he said it would receive amounts similar to campaigns for the iPhone or its previous hit phone the Motorola Razr.

Verizon has had a close partnership with Android and Motorola as AT&T was the exclusive carrier for Apple’s iPhone. Now that Verizon is in bed with the iPhone as well, it looks like AT&T is looking for a new sugar daddy. The Motorola Atrix 4G goes on sale on March 6th for $199.99 with a two-year contract. Preorders begin on Feb 13th, which is 3 days after Verizon pre-orders begin for non-Verizon customers.

via WSJ.com

Hulu and Viacom have entered into a partnership that will bring back The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. The deal also brings popular TV shows from Viacom’s media networks, including Comedy Central, MTV, BET, VH1, Spike TV, and TV Land to the Hulu Plus subscription service.

“We are very pleased to partner with Hulu in a way that recognizes the value of our strong brands and the passionate young fans who are attracted to our content. The Hulu Plus service offers us the opportunity to connect with our audiences through an exciting subscription and ad supported platform that is complementary to our existing distribution arrangements. This innovative agreement allows us to benefit from the success and expansion of Hulu and we look forward to bringing our popular content to their growing audience.”

The press release mentions “Let’s Stay Together” as one of the shows coming to Hulu. It airs on BET directly after The Game, which generated more social media buzz than any other prime time show during its comeback premier. While not mentioned in the release, it will be interesting if The Game will show up on Hulu as well.

With Hulu’s new hybrid revenue model, it looks like Viacom had a change of heart. Some of the content, like the Daily Show, will be available for free on Hulu. Other shows will be available to Hulu Plus subscribers, including more than 2,000 episodes of programming from Viacom’s library.

via PRNewswire

I figured it wouldn’t take long to catch on. Especially for an artist like Lupe Fiasco, who regularly uses social media and technology. Lupe is using a QR Code to promote his album Lasers.

The QR Code reads “Scan with Red Laser” and takes you to a mini-site where you can order different combo’s of Lupe Fiasco gear and music. You can use laser for everything now a days  like a laser engraver from BossLaser. The premium package, for example, includes:

• Lasers CD
• Lasers T-Shirt
• Lasers 18×24″ Lithograph
• Sew-on Patch
• Immediate MP3 download of “The Show Goes On”
• MP3 download of “Words I Never Said”, sent at 12:01am EST on 2/8/11

This is the type of innovation and integration with technology that will keep artists eating as the music business turns itself on its head. Artists will need to create an experience around their music that helps fans feel connected. As the music basically becomes free for download, the intangible aspect of being a part of something becomes more important. Check out the Black Eyed Peas recent iPhone app as another example.

via @Corvida

Today, Feb 3rd, is the day that Verizon customers can begin pre-ordering the CDMA iPhone. While Verizon has maintained that their cellular network will be able to handle the influx of new iPhone customers, it appears their website is having no such luck. Business Insider reports:

Since I need a new phone, I logged on at 5 A.M. to put in my order. For the last three hours Ive been greeted with this screen that reads, “Sorry, an error has occured.”

Im not alone, either. A look at Twitter reveals others are having the same problem.

We can only hope that we won’t see the same type of pre-order debacle caused by AT&T when the iPhone 4 launched. A few initial hiccups are probably normal, so it remains to be seen if Verizon will buckle under the pressure. Keep in mind, this is only Verizon customers. Who knows what will happen when the floodgates open on February 10th and AT&T customers start jumping ship.

Initial reports show that, while the Verizon iPhone is just about identical to it’s GSM cousin, that CDMA radio makes a difference. Calls are clear and crisp. Dropped calls and call quality issues are few and far between. You may not be able to use your data connection while jabbering on a call, but many AT&T customers can’t maintain calls anyway.

At a press event today for Android 3.0 Honeycomb, one of the most exciting announcements was a web-based store for the Android Market. Most of the Honeycomb features and goodies demonstrated at the event were already known. Check out the video for a refresher:

One of the more exciting announcements was the addition of a website for the Android Market. Now, you can finally browse the market from somewhere other than your actual Android device or a third-party service.

The website makes it easy to discover great new apps with a bigger, brighter interface. You can also send apps directly to your Android device with just a few clicks—no wires needed. We’ve built in new social features, too. You can share apps with your friends through Twitter. And you can read and post app reviews directly to Android Market from the web or from your device.

Speaking of third-party services, sites like AppBrain.com will need to stay ahead of the game if they want to stay in play. It looks like the Android Market web interface covers many of the features that users have become accustomed to from these other sites. At the time of this writing, though, you cannot login to the Market.Android.com site. It throws an “invalid request” error. Let us know if you get in.

Another nice development is the addition of video chat based on GTalk. Now, Android users have an official way to do video chat with other Android and Gmail users just as iPhone and Mac users can chat via Facetime. They demoed the featured by calling up Cee-Lo, which is awesome by itself because it means Cee-Lo has an Android device and…well..it’s Cee-Lo! Unfortunately, he ended the call with a simple “Peace” rather than that “F” word that launched his recent single.

Android 3.0 was built for tablets with larger screens, so it remains to be seen what features we will see in the latest Android 2.2 devices. Hopefully, with Google breaking out many of the features of Android into individual apps on the Market, we may get some 3.0 love without waiting on the carriers to get it together.

via Official Google Mobile Blog

It seems Mozy has realized that offering unlimited backup for $5/month just isn’t good business anymore. The unlimited plan is dead and tiered pricing has taken it’s place. It’s seems many users are upset, but the change seems logical. Times have changed since Mozy started doing backup in 2006. Everyone and their grandma is capturing photos and video. In many cases, the video is in HD, as high megapixel cameras are cheap and most phones can record HD.

They have removed the unlimited plan and will give you 50GB of storage for $5.99/month. According to Mozy, this will cover a majority of their userbase. You can add 20GB for $2/month. This plan covers 1 computer. For $9.99/month, you can get 125GB and backup 3 computers. Each additional computer is $2/month.

The new pricing takes effect immediately for new customers. Existing customers have until March 1, 2011. Also, existing customers will be allowed to keep their unlimited backup plans for the duration of their current monthly, annual, or biennial plans, and will migrate to a new plan at the end of the term. If you re-up on an annual or biennial plan, you get an additional free month.

Of course, there is always the 2GB free plan, which I’ve been using for quite some time now. Mozy’s referral program can get you some additional space for adding friends and family. Lifehacker also provides some Mozy alternatives if the new plans are just too much for you.

via New MozyHome Plans

Today, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of News Corporation Rupert Murdoch unveiled The Daily. This is the much-anticipated publication created in cooperation with Apple especially for the iPad.

“New times demand new journalism,” said Mr. Murdoch. “So we built The Daily completely from scratch — on the most innovative device to come about in my time — the iPad.”

“News Corp. is redefining the news experience with The Daily,” says Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We think it is terrific and iPad users are really going to embrace it.”

The Daily will debut at $0.99 per week or $39.99 per year. It will contain up to 100 pages focused on six key areas: news, sports, gossip and celebrity, opinion, arts and life, and apps and games. They promise views spanning across the political spectrum, cultures, and generations.

Besides text and pictures, The Daily will be able to provide a unique mix of audio, video, and real-time data along with social media integration. This opens things up for the editors to tell each story in the best format.

“In short,” says Mr. Murdoch, “we believe The Daily will be the model for how stories are told and consumed in this digital age.”

You can download The Daily app for free from iTunes.

via The Daily

Popular dating sites Match.com and OkCupid have decided to make it official. Match.com, part of the IAC family, has acquired OkCupid for $50 million in cash plus future payments dependent on performance.

According to IAC, OkCupid has “been the fastest growing dating site in the advertising-based category.” It’s a free site which attracts a younger user base than you would find on a Match.com.

“We know that many people who start out on advertising-based sites ultimately develop an appetite for the broader feature set and more committed community, which subscription sites like Match.com and Chemistry.com offer, creating a true complimentary relationship between our various business models,” says Greg Blatt, CEO of IAC.

Match.com previously acquired People Media for $80 million and Singlesnet. Blatt says, “we believe coordinating the adjacent business models will help fuel continued growth for both.” OkCupid co-founder and CEO Sam Yagan will continue to run the site.

OkCupid’s free model has been very successful. It originally launched as an alternative to sites like Match.com, which tend to make money on failing to match users and gathering new users rather than creating relationships. This acquisition may be an attempt for Match.com to funnel users into their subscription-based system. Some feel it is a bad much, but it remains to be seen how this will affect current OkCupid users.

via Mashable, The Atlantic