Archive for October, 2011

Has Disney been watching the news? ABC renews Netflix contract.

Oct 31 by Rocco Penn | 3 comments

The wagons are circled at the Netflix camp as hundreds of thousands of subscribers cancelled in the last few months, but that doesn’t seem to scare the folks at Disney as they just renewed and expanded the contract between Netflix and ABC. Stocks have dropped by over 70% since the summer after recent debacles and more »

Why @klout made a big mistake with their algorithm change

Oct 29 by JD Rucker | 2 comments

One aspect of social media that is widely understood but rarely discussed is the ego-boost through empowerment that it allows. In most cases, the “empowerment” is perceived more highly than the reality, but it’s present for many of those who have never had a public voice but who now can use social more »

YouTube expands its exclusive-content drive with 100 new video channels

Oct 29 by Connor Livingston | 1 comment

Original content is the cornerstone of most content channels, but YouTube has been conspicuous over the years as a place for finding unoriginal content. Much of the site is absolutely unique, but there has always been a strong lean towards posting content that originally appeared elsewhere. more »

Independence Day sequels should NOT have Will Smith

Oct 29 by Scarlett Madison | 4 comments

Whether one agrees with #OccupyWallStreet or not, the movement has helped to highlight the levels of greed that pervade America today. The focus is on corporate America, but many are starting to also highlight greed that hurts other institutions such as entertainment and government. With Will more »

The tablet takeover of eCommerce

Oct 28 by Rocco Penn | 5 comments

In so many things, understanding comes by following the money. It works in many criminal cases, political decisions, and societal sentiment. It also happens in the world of eCommerce. That being the case, it makes sense that as more money is being spent on tablets, more money is being spent through more »

Samsung takes over as biggest smartphone seller, Apple #2

Oct 28 by Connor Livingston | 6 comments

Anyone who questioned why Apple has been focusing so much on trumping Samsung in the courts around the world can now have a better understanding as Samsung propelled ahead of Apple last quarter in world-wide smartphone sales. Over 100 million smartphones were sold last quarter and 27.8 million more »

Sony declares the death of feature phones

Oct 27 by JD Rucker | 2 comments

It may not have been their intention, but it’s definitely a clear indicator. By purchasing Ericsson’s half of the phone deal and announcing plans to move towards a smartphone-only model, Sony has unofficially declared the death of feature phones. It’s a trend that is likely to continue to hit other manufacturers. Sony’s president more »

Netflix is a case study in poor decisions tanking a company

Oct 25 by JD Rucker | 2 comments

If you would have asked most experts in both the tech and business worlds back in June (just five months ago) what Netflix’ future looked like, most would have given a cautious-but-hopeful thumbs up. Those in the know would have acknowledged the challenges that face the company such as ISP throttling, more »

Ruling the web in education

Oct 24 by Connor Livingston | 3 comments

The growth of the internet over the past two decades has sparked a dramatic increase in its use as an education medium. Websites are popping up every week that grab hold of the trend and offer ways for people to improve their professional status or simply increase their own personal knowledge. It’s more »

Reddit teaches Amazon the power of over-the-top customer service

Oct 23 by Scarlett Madison | 13 comments

Good deeds are supposed to be rewarded, but all too often they simply go unnoticed. When Reddit user zambuka42 had a good experience dealing with Amazon customer service, he decided to let his friends at the social news site know about it. Now, half a million people have read what happened and the number continues more »

Why money is driving the virtual buying boom (and not for the obvious reason)

Oct 21 by JD Rucker | 1 comment

It’s easy to say that purchasing anything, even virtual goods, is driven by money. It’s almost a nonsense statement; of course money is tied into the buying spree that’s happening in social gaming, mobile apps, and virtual merchandise. Digging deeper, we can see that money is driving it, but it’s more »

ATT wins the iPhone 4S battle according to ATT

Oct 20 by Scarlett Madison | 5 comments

In the world of public relations, you sometimes have to toot your own horn when others won’t. That seems to be the case with AT&T, a company that has been in need of more victories in light of poor customer relations and retention as well as a legal battle on their hands over the merger with T-Mobile. To that end, they announced today more »

Steve Ballmer discusses Microsoft's past, present, and future

Oct 19 by Rocco Penn | 3 comments

Steve Ballmer can never be called shy. Within moments of opening his appearance oat the Web 2.0 Summit this week, he started his offensive against Google with jabs about their Apps cloud collaboration software and Android, then went after the Apple iPhone. As a speaker at the event 2 years ago, more »

As internet criminal activity decreases, botnets skyrocket

Oct 18 by Connor Livingston | 5 comments

Everyone has heard of hackers, viruses, and spam. What fewer people have heard of or understand are botnets despite statistics that show they’re trending to be the choice of current cybercriminals. By using “Command-and-Control” servers, hackers are able to remotely take over computers to more »