Cynopsis: DIGITAL

02/26/10

Good morning, it’s Friday, February 26, 2010, and this is your first early morning digital briefing.

Addressing EU concerns that its search results unfairly bury competitor’s services, Google struck back on Thursday claiming that its algorithms generate better and more relevant results than any manually-curated system. The gist of the argument, waged by Amit Singhal – a fellow in Google Search – is that search is extremely complex and that Google does it better than anyone by ranking the “authoritativeness” of other sites. Google is expected to formally respond to complaints in the coming weeks, which EU officials will take into account before deciding to launch a full-blown inquiry. The company has vehemently denied that it has abused its market power.
 

 
Cable network Oxygen is partnering with live streaming platform Ustream.com next week to set up a live event following a new episode of Bad Girls Club at 10 pm ET/PT. Tanisha from season two of the show returns for the network’s first-ever live episode of Oxygen’s “After Hours” on OxygenLive.com, an online companion show to Bad Girls Club. Fans are encouraged to chime in via live chat and integrated Facebook and Twitter feeds.
 
Apple‘s iTunes store announced that it has sold its 10 billionth song. The catalog now includes over 12 million songs, 55,000 TV episodes and 8,500 movies including 2,500 in premium-priced HD.
 
Here Media‘s gay-themed magazine and website The Advocate premiered of its first TV newsmagazine, The Advocate On-Air, on Advocate.com.
 

 
Google announced on its Twitter account that public status updates from Facebook are now showing up on Google searches via the company’s new real-time search feature, first announced in Dec. (Updates that aren’t tagged for public consumption will not show up.) The algorithm now pulls in real-time blog postings, tweets and MySpace updates.
 
Online film magazine Reverse Shot is bringing its curated video interview series to Babelgum’s website and iPhone & Android apps. Babelgum will be hosting Reverse Shot’s “Talkies” and “Direct Address” videos, which feature interviews with both established and emerging directors.
 
Conan O’Brien may not pull in sufficient numbers to hold onto the 11:30 spot on NBC but he’s already big on Twitter. Conan opened his very own Twitter account on Wed. and has managed to attract over 300k followers.
 

 
Video ad network Tremor Media announced an upgrade to its Acudeo ad targeting solution, utilizing real-time audience data to package inventory. The idea is to reduce waste and redundancy by shifting audience criteria so that it’s as up-to-date as possible. A new partnership with online measurement firm Quantcast will also provide detailed, anonymous data that segments audiences by attributes relevant to advertisers.
 
Interactive classified advertising software provider Adicio unveiled new Professional Editions of its classified platforms for the Careers, Real Estate and Automotive markets, targeting small to midsized publishers.
 
ComScore announced that it has signed Microsoft Advertising to use its Audience Advantage platform to help optimize consumer packaged goods advertising in the U.S., from clients such as Campbell Soup and Alberto Culver.
 

 
Shares of portable device maker Palm tumbled yesterday as the company reduced it outlook for its fiscal year, noting that FY 2010 revenues will be “well below” previous forecasts of $1.6 to $1.8 billion. Palm’s new Pre smartphone has suffered from stiff competition from Apple, Android and BlackBerry devices.
 
IAC’s Match.com acquired competitor Singlesnet for an undisclosed amount.
 
Independent Film & Television Alliance President Jean Prewitt criticized the merger of Comcast and NBC for threatening source diversity and viewer choice before an address to the House Judiciary Committee. She warned that the merger threatens to stifle the distribution of independently created programming on newer mediums including cable VOD and broadband platforms.
 

 
Consumers on the Android and iPhone platforms continue to be actively engaged with the applications they download, according to a new survey from mobile ad network AdMob, acquired by Google late last year. iPhone and Android users downloaded approximately the same total number of apps and spent approximately the same amount of time using them. However, iPhone users continue to download more paid apps, with 50% of users purchasing at least one paid application/month compared to 21% of Android users. Other findings included:

• the iPhone represented 47% of US smartphone usage in AdMob’s network in January 2010, followed by Android (39%), RIM  (7%) and webOS devices (3%)
• iPod touch owners download an average of 12 apps/month, 37% more than iPhone and Android users who download approximately nine new apps. webOS users downloaded an average of six apps/month
• iPod touch users spent an average of 100 minutes/day using applications, compared to 87 minutes/day for webOS users, 80 minutes/day for Android 79 minutes/day for iPhone
• 73% of Android users are male, compared to only 56% of iPhone OS users. The average iPhone user is 14 years older than the average iPod touch user, of which 78 percent are below the age of 24
• 91% of iPhone users and 88% of iPod touch users would recommend their device, compared to 84% of Android users and 69% of webOS users

 
About a third of consumers were at least “somewhat interested” in having 3D capability on their TV, but cost, content availability and convenience of watching in 3D ranked high among concerns about adopting the technology, according to a new NPD Group study. The cost of a 3D TV and the cost of getting 3D content on their TV concerned 60% of consumers; having to possibly pay more for 3D content from their provider was a cause of concern by 64% of consumers; while 61% worried about the cost of the set itself. DisplaySearch, an NPD Group company, expects 1.2 million 3D-capable TVs to ship in 2010, with the number growing to 15.6 million in 2013.
 

 
Nintendo is adding e-reader software to its new line of Nintendo DX hand-held gaming devices, enabling kids to take a break from gaming by reading snippets of Mark Twain and The Bard. The screen of the DSi XL, due out on March 28, is larger than the DS Lite model and will offer a bundle of 100 classic books for $19.99 following the launch. The unit is slated to cost $189.99.
 
Mobile video sharing platform Thwapr introduced new sharing capabilities on Facebook and Twitter. The new “Thwap It!,”  feature allows users to share pictures or videos to mobile phones without registration or application download. The platform supports more than 200 devices for mobile video including many of the most recent smartphones.
 

 
Paul Greenberg was named President, Digital of Time Inc.’s Lifestyle Group, overseeing 10 digital properties including Health.com, RealSimple.com, and MyRecipes.com. He reports to Lifestyle Group President Steve Sachs. Paul comes to Time from TV Guide Online, where he served as EVP and GM.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM concrete5

 
YouTube’s tagline may be “broadcast yourself” but social broadcasting enabler Vpype (pronounced Vee-Pipe) is hoping that its Facebook app can provide broadcasting functionality within the most world’s most populated social network. The Milpitas, CA-based start-up launched a few weeks back offering a simple video greeting tool that can send and share live and archived videos. (Of course a retweet function will also help alert the masses.) But a tool like Vpype clearly has the potential to be a far-reaching killer app, with plans to migrate to other social networks and platforms. The company kicked off its first live Screenplay Pitch contest on Facebook this week. Would be scribes are invited to pitch their ideas in a 5-minute podcast to a group of Hollywood pros led by Julie Richardson, Producer of Collateral. (Five minutes is the max, but shorter pitches are probably preferred – think Buck Henry’s bit in The Player.) On April 26th, 2010 the top ten finalists will be announced on the Contest Group page on Facebook, each of who will be given a slot in a live pitching event on May 1.
 
Later – Wayne
Wayne Karrfalt for Cynopsis: Digital
[email protected]
02.26.10

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JOB OPENING:  DIRECTOR RESEARCH TV RATINGS & DIGITAL METRICS/OWN (LOS ANGELES): Oversee Ratings and Digital reporting and analysis. Expert in TV ratings systems. Digital experience a huge +. Apply @ http://careers.own.tv   (3/5)

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