Google Chrome: Cloud Computing Goes Mainstream

When you first heard that the Google Chrome operating system would bear the very same name as the Google Chrome web browser, you might have experienced some confusion. I know I did. “Why would a company known for innovation and creativity choose such an uninspiring name in the first place, let alone apply it twice?” I asked myself.

As it turns out, the second half of that question has a perfectly logical answer. With its already established, minimally designed Chrome browser and the soon-to-be released operating system, Google intends to blur the line between the two. In fact, the idea is to change the personal computing paradigm entirely. (more…)

Google Boosts Real-Time Ad Capabilities

Google announced this morning they have teamed up with Teracent, a San Mateo, Calif., advertising company.  Teracent has created some high-tech software and algorithms, which will help create automatic and real-time advertisements.

“We think that this technology has great potential to improve display advertising on the web,” Google’s blog said. “That’s why we’re pleased to announce today that we’ve entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Teracent. The transaction, which is subject to various closing conditions, is expected to close this quarter.” (more…)

News Corp and Microsoft Team Up against Google

It was just two weeks ago when News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch said to Sky News Australia that he wanted to take News Corp websites off of Google.  This week, Microsoft has teamed up with News Corp to remove the sites from Google.  And at the same time, Murdoch paid Microsoft to include their results on their search engine, Bing.  (more…)

Record Exec Arrested after Failure to Tweet?

Over the weekend, James Roppo, vice president of Island Def Jam Records was arrested in Garden City, N.Y.  His crime: not tweeting.  Yes, as in not using the popular social networking site, Twitter. 

Roppo was in Garden City with Canadian teen pop sensation Justin Bieber, who was supposed to perform a free concert for the several thousand screaming teen-aged fans who had waited for him, lining up as early as 4 a.m., at the Roosevelt Field Mall.  Several hours before the 15-year-old’s concert, things got out of hand and five people were taken to local hospitals with minor injuries.  (more…)

This Week In Social Media: November 20, 2009

From “what’s happening” with Twitter, to Facebook becoming one of the top video sites, this is what happened this week in the world of social media. (more…)

‘What’s Happening’ With Twitter?

Twitter users around the world have a few questions to ask themselves.  “What’s happening?” In what might seem like a minor change to some, Twitter users are now implored to answer that question rather than “What are you doing?”

Twitter’s company blog had the following to say this morning: “Twitter was originally conceived as a mobile status update service—an easy way to keep in touch with people in your life by sending and receiving short, frequent answers to one question, ‘What are you doing?’ However, when we implemented the service, we chose to leave something out. To stay simple, Twitter did not require individuals to confirm relationships. Instead, we left things open. (more…)

YouTube to Support Automatic Closed Captioning

A few months ago, I opened a message from someone who watched a video of mine.  The message said:

“I am intrigued from reading what the people have commented on your videos. Not to mention your charismatic expression…

 
One teeny-weeny problem here: I am deaf and cannot understand what you have been saying on the videos. I wonder if it is possible to subtitle your videos. The subtitles also benefit the hearing people who are learning English as foreign language.

 
I know the technology to add the subtitles exists, but it is not always this easy sometimes.”

This really got me thinking.  I had never really thought about how the hearing impaired really can’t watch online videos and get the full effect, unless someone manually put captions on the video itself, or if the video featured signing.  It’s been something on my mind and something I personally have been trying to work on.  I want everyone to be able get the message — not just in my video, but in everyone else’s as well. (more…)

Facebook Ranked Third Most Popular Video Site

When you think of watching a video online, you most likely think of YouTube. And why wouldn’t you, considering the multitude of videos to be found on that site.

In fact, there are so many videos on YouTube, some say that  it would take over 600 years watch all the videos on the site today– and that’s without a bathroom break.  Hulu also might come to mind.  Launched in 2008, Hulu offers viewers over 10,000 hours of content from several American television networks, including NBC, ABC, and FOX along with several cable networks.

But what about Facebook?  Facebook for video!? According to some recent results from Nielsen, Facebook has rapidly climbed the charts by assuming the No. 3 spot for an online video website.  The popular social-networking site had streamed a total of 217.7 million views in the month of October.  That’s nearly double the total from September, when Facebook had just reached the top 10 mark with 110 million views.  (more…)

Could Smartphones Make e-Readers Obsolete?

Last month, Amazon released its wildly popular e-book reader, the Kindle, to an international audience. But while the online retail giant looks to shore up its market abroad, a stiff challenge could be shaping up at home. That competition is coming from an unexpected source: the smart phones many of us already own.

Many Americans are finding that their phones boast many of the same capabilities of a Kindle and other gadgets of its ilk, but in a smaller, more convenient package. According to a report by New York Times technology reporters Motoko Rich and Brad Stone, e-book apps could spell doom for specialized reading devices. (more…)

Blogging Drives 55 Percent More Traffic to Sites

Blogging on your company website could help you bring in more traffic. At least that’s what HubSpot is saying after a recent survey. The company sampled 1,531 HubSpot customers, most of which were small- to mid-sized businesses.  Roughly 52 percent, or 795 businesses, had blogs on their sites, while the remaining 736 did not. 

The study shows that companies with blogs received 55 percent more traffic than with those without. If you are wondering why it is so important to have more visitors to your site, HubSpot says it’s “because more visitors mean more people to convert to leads and sales.” (more…)