Google to scuttle its pay-per-action beta
What had been seen as a unique alternative pricing model for advertising, which Google began testing just last year, is being phased out after the end of August.
In March 2007, Google launched its beta test of what many thought may become an evolutionary step in the development of Web advertising: a pay-per-action (PPA) model where clients get to choose which customer actions matter most to them, and pay Google only for those actions. For example, as an alternative to cost-per-click (CPC) where an advertiser pays each time someone clicks on an ad whether or not he becomes a paying customer, the advertiser could choose instead to pay Google a percentage of each sale once that's finalized, or each time a customer has clicked through to a particular page rather than just the first one that comes up after the initial click.
Nokia nabs Warner for its future Internet music service
Apple's iTunes and Microsoft's Zune stand to face newfound competition later this year from Nokia's Comes with Music, especially if Nokia manages to nail down EMI, too.
In a deal inked with Warner Music this week, Nokia has now signed three of the four major record companies to "Comes with Music," an offering that will package a mobile phone with one year of unlimited access to music, allowing users to keep the downloaded tunes once the subscription is up.
DOJ silence to HP means EDS merger can proceed
The house that Ross Perot built, after he left IBM in 1962, will apparently face no opposition in being absorbed into Hewlett-Packard's services division, as the DOJ's silence can be interpreted as acquiescence.
No news is good news: Hewlett-Packard Co. said yesterday that it had not received any requests for additional information from the US Department of Justice or the Federal Trade Commission regarding its May 13 acquisition of Electronic Data Systems Corp., which clears the way for the acquisition to proceed.
Sprint says it's doing all it can to manage its Instinct
On Monday, Sprint announced that the Samsung Instinct has turned into the fastest selling EV-DO handset in the carrier's history, leading to product shortages in some parts of the US since the phone's release on June 19.
In mid-June, Samsung unveiled a successor to the Instinct known as the Omnia, which adds Wi-Fi and Samsung's new TouchWiz user interface, while boosting smartphone cameras capabilities to 5 Mp from the 2 Mp in the Instinct.
Apple releases Mac OS X 10.5.4 update with new security fixes
In a notice on its corporate Web site today, Apple said it had released a wrap-up of general operating system stability and security improvements, including several that address malicious crafting exploits.
One new security update released today and incorporated into the version 10.5.4 package addresses a series of problems uncovered by, and attributed to, UK-based software developer and consultant James Urquhart, who himself does not claim to be a security engineer. A recent Secunia software advisory also credits Urquhart, who was also able to locate a problem with versions of Safari for Windows prior to version 3.1.2 (obviously not addressed by today's Mac OS X update).
Analysts play king-of-the-hill with 3G iPhone sales claims
Analysts who are normally paid to be skeptical and cynical are falling over themselves to see which one can make the biggest sales predictions for the second-generation 3G iPhone, due to be rolled out July 11 for as low as $199.
With the first models of the iPhone priced at $599 and $699 and selling between 5 and 6 million since its introduction, Apple CEO Steve Jobs' prediction that the company would sell 10 million iPhones in 2008 seemed optimistic - yet that ambitious number is looking increasingly conservative compared with more and more extravagant analyst claims.
Yahoo to tell shareholders it doubts Microsoft intended a real merger
Microsoft's history of business transactions during its attempt to acquire and merge with Yahoo, a presentation to Yahoo shareholders will argue, imply that its business goals may have been to weaken Yahoo rather than strengthen it.
Slides from a Yahoo presentation to shareholders that will likely be given during its shareholders meeting on August 1 in San Jose, submitted in advance to the US Securities and Exchange Commission in accordance with law, will make the case that the company's board of directors doubt Microsoft had any serious intention to fully acquire and merge with Yahoo.
AOL to buy tie-ins to Facebook social networking apps
After dangling cash in developers' faces around AIM applications, AOL today unveiled a financial incentive program for tweaking Facebook and Bebo social networking widgets to work with AOL's Platform-A. Could Google devs be next?
Unlike the AIM Money program announced June 10, which is broader based, the initiative rolled out by AOL this week is specifically directed at Facebook and Bebo developers.
Lenovo pushes ahead with desktop PCs for the States
On the heels of its first consumer desktop, the IdeaCentre K200, in China in May, Lenovo has now released the IdeaCentre K210, a consumer desktop machine for use globally.
Points of variation on the machine from other consumer desktop systems is Bright Vision technology, which uses a bundled Bright Eye camera to help adjust the brightness of the monitor based on where the user is sitting. Leaning one's head back or forward changes the brightness of the monitor, said spokesman Doug Bell.
Wyoming gets the nation's first active Mobile WiMAX
What the company claimed was the first commercially available WiMAX Forum-certified Mobile WiMAX network in the US has been launched in Jackson, Wyoming.
BridgeMAXX mobile service is provided by DigitalBridge Communications (DBC) Corp., based in Ashburn, Va., and uses WiMAX Forum Certified BreezeMAX 2.5 GHz equipment from Alvarion Ltd., a Tel Aviv manufacturer. DBC currently provides WiMAX service to a number of other cities in the Intermountain West, and will be upgrading those areas to mobile WiMAX over the next 12 to 18 months, said Stephanie Soscia, director of marketing.
Efficacy of Activision + Blizzard merger will be tested with Diablo III
Much to the delight of gamers, Blizzard Entertainment finally confirmed Diablo III is in development, and also showed off screenshots and game play during the 2008 WorldWide Invitational (WWI).
Rumors have been floating around about a possible Diablo III game for more than a year, but Blizzard -- the subject of an upcoming Activision stockholders meeting regarding its possible absorption into a new gaming empire -- remained secretive about this and other pending projects until just before the weekend.
Web legend Marc Andreessen joins Facebook's board
Silicon Valley entrepreneurial billionaire Marc Andreessen -- who co-authored the Mosaic Web browser and co-founded Netscape some 15 years ago -- has now joined Facebook's board of directors, though he holds stock in its competitors.
Andreessen serves on the board of Open Media Network, a company that produces a combined Kontiki (VeriSgn) client and media player. He is also an investor in Digg, Twitter, and several other Web 2.0 start-ups.
Pro-Obama senators petition FCC to review XM + Sirius merger
The prospective partners in satellite radio may be prompted to consider expediting their deal arrangements, perhaps before November, in light of a letter to the FCC from likely policymakers, should a Democrat take the White House.
A trio of Democratic senators, including two who were early backers of Sen. Barack Obama's (D - Ill.) bid for the presidency, sent an open letter last Friday to US Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin, calling on him to, at the very least, impose stricter requirements that XM and Sirius satellite radio produce interoperable radios.
Analysts: The chip industry is booming despite the economy
Semiconductor chip sales worldwide rose 7.5 percent in May compared to a year ago and 2.8 percent compared to last month despite drops in prices, which the Semiconductor Industry Association attributed to growth in emerging markets.
The 7.5 percent figure -- for sales of $21.8 billion in May compared to $21.2 billion in April and $20.3 billion in May 2007 -- is especially noteworthy considering that the San Jose, Calif., organization had lowered its November prediction of 7.7 percent to 4.8 percent earlier this month due to strong price pressures on memory chips, said John Greenagel, director of communications.
Rhapsody launches its DRM-free MP3 store
Real Networks' Rhapsody has opened an MP3 store that works independently of the subscription-based service, bringing Rhapsody ever closer in design (but not execution) to the venerable iTunes.
United States customers today can access the new Rhapsody.com digital download store which offers DRM-free music for 99¢ per track, or $9.99 an album. Like Rhapsody's subscription service, users can preview up to 25 full-length tracks per month, and then all subsequent previews are pared down to 30 seconds, the same as iTunes.
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