February 2010

Yahoo, Twitter in deal to share content

In a battle to woo back Web surfers who are spending more time on social networking sites, Internet portal Yahoo has clinched a deal with Twitter to share content across both properties.

Yahoo reached a similar agreement with Facebook in December, making it easier for users to share Facebook status updates and other information. Twitter offers millions of messages posted every minute. "The information in one single tweet can travel light years farther with this Yahoo integration," Twitter co-founder Biz Stone said in a statement. "Tweets in more places brings relevance where and when you need it most."

The move reflects Yahoo's deep desire to tap into the increasingly social nature of the Web. It's a trend propelled by Facebook and Twitter, which have become major forces in driving and directing online traffic. Yahoo missed its golden opportunity to cash in on the rise of social networking when Facebook rebuffed its $1-billion-plus takeover offer. The partnerships with Twitter and Facebook will roll out later this year. The deals will enable users to take material from both sites without having to leave either one, said Jim Stoneham, vice president of communities for Yahoo. Specifically, users will be able to access their Twitter feed on Yahoo's sites. They will also be able to update their Twitter status and share content from Yahoo. And Yahoo search and media properties will include Twitter updates.

ABC News prepares major restructuring; between 300 and 400 staffers could be cut

ABC News is poised to make a major round of cuts that will reduce the size of the news division by as much as 20% and radically reorder the network's traditional approach to news gathering.

Forced to belt-tighten by the weak advertising market, network executives have opted to restructure the labor-heavy newsroom from top to bottom in favor of a leaner, more nimble operation, according to multiple sources. Many of those remaining in the pared-down news division will be expected to both produce and shoot their own stories, acting as "one-man bands," a model increasingly being adopted in television news. The process is expected to begin Wednesday morning when employees receive a letter asking for volunteers to take buyouts and leave the company. Newsroom employees have heard that the network is seeking to shrink the newsroom by as many as 300 positions, about 20% of the 1,400-person staff. If not enough employees volunteer to leave, layoffs are likely to follow.

CBS fights '04 Jackson 'wardrobe malfunction' fine

After six years of legal wrangling and one Supreme Court review of Janet Jackson's infamous Super Bowl "wardrobe malfunction," CBS argued anew Tuesday that it should not be held responsible for the half-second of nudity.

The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia had thrown out the FCC's $550,000 fine against CBS as arbitrary, only to have the U.S. Supreme Court kick it back down for review. The Supreme Court pointed to its ruling in a Fox Television-led challenge, when it said the FCC could threaten fines over the use of a single curse word on live TV. The FCC argued Tuesday that CBS was duly warned that its 2004 halftime performers might add some shock value to the act. Jackson's choreographer had promised as much, FCC lawyer Jacob Lewis said. During the act, singer Justin Timberlake ripped off Jackson's bustier, exposing her breast for nine-sixteenths of a second.

Google faces Brussels antitrust scrutiny

The European Commission has launched a preliminary antitrust investigation into Google's search engine and its search-advertising service.

The European Commission on Wednesday said it had contacted the US Internet company about two weeks ago about three complaints it had received and that the commission itself was examining them. The authorities in Brussels stressed that they had not opened a formal investigation in the company or its practices at this stage. According to Google, one of the three complaints was from rival Microsoft. That protest, from an online service called Ciao that was recently bought by the software company, echoes a complaint that had already been lodged with regulators in Germany. The Commission added that it had asked Google to comment on the complaints and that it was co-operating closely with national competition authorities. This procedure is standard practice when complaints are received in Brussels, and it can take some time - often months - before a decision is made either to begin a formal probe or to drop the matter.

Cisco joins Google in ultra-fast broadband race

Cisco Systems is developing an ultra-high-speed system for Internet access in partnership with a number of US service providers, according to people close to the company. The move by the US telecommunications equipment maker comes just weeks after Google promised it would build an ultra-high-speed fibre-optic system.

The Federal Communications Commission, the US media regulator, is preparing to unveil its national broadband strategy next month. Unlike Google, Cisco's move does not appear to conflict with existing broadband network operators. Some of Cisco's biggest customers, including AT&T and Comcast, the leading telecoms and cable companies, are expected to come under pressure to invest more in high-speed networks once the FCC unveils its plan.

UK superfast broadband

It doesn't sound like a compelling business case: spend billions on rolling out a product for which there is no obvious demand. But that is what the British government wants telecoms companies to do.

It would like fibre-optic cables to lace the country, bringing everyone super-fast broadband of 50 to 100 megabits per second, compared with today's average 4Mbps. To subsidize the upgrade in rural areas, it plans a 50p per month tax on all telephone lines. The problem, as a skeptical parliamentary committee pointed out on Tuesday, is that hardly anyone needs broadband that fast. Even new applications such as Internet TV work fine on existing copper wires. In future that will almost certainly change but, questioning the project's urgency, the bipartisan committee opposed the tax and said the market should be left to its own devices for now. Ditto the Conservative opposition. Companies, meanwhile, are divided.

At the heart of the problem is that there are two "digital divides". The first is between the UK and its neighbors: it comes 20th in the broadband speed league of developed countries, behind Portugal and Italy, which could one day hurt competitiveness. The second is within the UK: 11 per cent of users, many in rural areas, have been left behind with speeds of less than 2Mbps.

Thousands of authors reject Google service

Nearly 7,000 authors have asked to be excluded from the sweeping digital books agreement that Google has reached with the publishing industry.

The requests are the latest sign of the deep unhappiness stirred up in the world by the landmark agreement, according to opponents of the plan. However, they and other observers also said the objections are likely to have little impact on Google's ambition to create the most comprehensive online repository of printed works. The deal still requires approval by a US judge, who held a hearing on the case last week in the last step before issuing his ruling. The agreement, which is designed to settle a class action lawsuit brought against Google by publishers and authors, would give the company the right to scan and index past works that are still in copyright, as long as their authors do not opt out. Google would also sell digital copies and split the proceeds with the copyright holders.

Mobile handset sales poised to rebound during 2010

Sales of mobile handsets fell nearly 1 per cent in 2009, their first decline eight years, as consumers cut back on spending during the downturn. However, analysts expect the market to rebound in 2010, with growth of 11 to 13 per cent. Gartner, the technology research company, had previously forecast 9 per cent growth for this year, but increased its numbers after a surge in consumer spending in the fourth quarter. Sales of mobile handsets in the final quarter were up 8.3 per cent on the previous year.

Poor but networked: UN says cell phone use surging

More than half of the people in the developing world are now cell phone subscribers, a United Nations report said Tuesday, highlighting strong global growth in telecommunications. There were an estimated 4.6 billion mobile phone subscriptions at the end of last year, compared with about 1 billion in 2002, the International Telecommunication Union said in a report. In developing nations, 57 percent of people were signed up. "The rate of progress remains remarkable," the UN agency said. The report tallied cell phone, landline telephone and Internet usage in 159 countries, from the mainly European nations that are most advanced in information technology to those in sub-Saharan Africa that are the least developed.

Internet use has grown, but at a slower pace, the report said. An estimated 1.7 billion people, or 26 percent of the world's population, were online last year, up from 11 percent in 2002. Still, four out of five people living in poor countries had no access to the Internet, with China alone comprising a third of the people online in the developing world.

Google, Microsoft and Apple: Which one will thrive?

Apple, Google and Microsoft are locked in a three-way struggle for industry dominance, competing to varying degrees on hardware, computer and cell phone operating systems, applications, entertainment, Internet search and more.

Today, Google owns Internet search, Microsoft owns operating systems and applications, and Apple owns high-end hardware and entertainment and media devices. That may well change, though. So it's worthwhile to ask: As each company looks to encroach on the turf of the others, which one is best positioned for the future -- and which is most likely to fall?

Although Apple is riding high now, it's the most vulnerable of the three. That's because its success is built on the singular vision and talent of one person -- Steve Jobs. Apple, far more than Microsoft or Google, has a business model somewhat akin to that of a Hollywood studio: It requires blockbuster hits in order to bring in big profits. When Jobs leaves, those hits will stop coming.

Of the three companies, Google is best positioned to thrive in the future. It has a near monopoly on Internet search, the core of the world economy's greatest growth engine. That gives it both an excellent base to expand upon, as well as a massive war chest it can depend on to fund new ventures. Although at times Google takes a scattershot approach to product development, it has heavily targeted high-growth areas as well, notably mobile devices. Because of that, it is well positioned to take advantage of the mobile device advertising boom that is likely to develop in the coming years. And although Google isn't likely to compete seriously against Microsoft in the operating systems and applications markets, it will gain enough revenue from its offerings to make it a player in those businesses.

Finally, there's Microsoft, which falls somewhere between Apple and Google. Unlike Apple, it doesn't need big hits in order to grow. With a stranglehold on operating systems and productivity applications, and with solid enterprise tools, it will grow steadily. Google won't be able to break its near monopoly.

Benton

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