Ian Paul

MySpace, Orkut, Bebo, Friendster, Twitter and of course Facebook have changed the Internet. By leading the Web 2.0 charge, social networks have had a big influence on how we interact online. Last week, Google announced that it would join with Yahoo ... and MySpace to form the Open Social Foundation. The new group will work together to promote the application programming interface (API) OpenSocial. APIs are the source codes that programmers use to develop applications for use on social networking sites such as Facebook's SuperWall and Scrabulous. (Source: news.com ) The idea is to promote a ... (view more)

Google was the big loser in a recent bidding auction for the 700 MHz spectrum, which is being abandoned by television networks as the entire industry moves to digital format under Congressional order. Now, Google is trying to get the Federal ... Communications Commission (FCC) to allow mobile devices to use what is called the 'white space' that exists between TV channels. (Source: slate.com ) While the regulatory board is reportedly intrigued by Google's proposal, many doubts remain. White space is used as a barrier between television channels to prevent signals from one broadcast interfering ... (view more)

Massive, video game advertising supplier and subsidiary of Microsoft, announced last week that it has solidified its advertising agreement with video game publisher Electronic Arts. The deal lasts until 2010 and assures prominent advertising in some ... of the most popular video games on the market including the "NHL, "Nascar" and "Need For Speed" franchises. While in-game advertising is still a fairly new and somewhat untested medium it promises to be extremely popular with marketers because it targets the oft-pursued demographic of 18-34 year old men. (Source: next-gen.biz ) In a statement ... (view more)

Last week, AOL announced that it would acquire Bebo, the third most popular social-networking site in the United States. The deal is worth $850 million, a bargain when considering that many companies, such as News Corp., Facebook, and Google are ... looking to the medium as the next big thing for advertising dollars. (Source: nytimes.com ) While the nobility of Silicon Valley have high hopes, no one has really found the 'magic formula' to turn social networking into a cash cow. If any company has the ability to monetize connecting with friends it may be AOL and Bebo. AIM is the dominant Instant ... (view more)

Google recently announced that it has completed negotiations before European anti-trust commissioners, and is finally able to close its $3.1 billion deal to acquire DoubleClick. The new addition to the Google brand will bring a greater concentration ... of advertising power within one corporation. However, anti-trust hearings in the US and Europe felt that the companies could merge because they occupied different parts of the advertising search market (Google is the dominant online supplier of text-relevant ads, while DoubleClick is a large advertiser for banner ads). (Source: nytimes.com ) ... (view more)

Last week, Apple kicked off a new era for the iPhone, introducing its Software Development Kit (SDK), which will allow developers to create programs for Apple's newest gadget. During a keynote address, Steve Jobs introduced a few limitations to ... Apple's relatively open policy for new software. Any programs that are illegal (file sharing), Malicious (viruses), violate privacy, hog bandwidth or display explicit images will not be allowed. (Source: blogsmithmedia.com ) The iPhone is also not going to allow applications to run in the background, which means you can only access one program at a ... (view more)

Steve Jobs is not a fan and is actively encouraging the computer industry to abandon Flash in favor of open source standards that can do the same job. Jobs' reluctance to use Flash became apparent last week in a conference call with shareholders, ... when he said that Flash Lite, the version for mobile phones, was "not capable of being used with the web" and therefore would not be showing up on the iPhone. (Source: betanews.com ) There are a multitude of invisible applications and codes buzzing around your computer when you visit the web. Some of the most popular include Java, JavaScript (no ... (view more)

It seems that Yahoo is simply staving off an inevitable takeover by Microsoft, while it desperately searches for a partner in a last ditch attempt to fortify its defenses against the hostile bid. As Redmond-based Microsoft prepares to apply more ... pressure to its rival, Yahoo has responded by postponing the nomination of new members to its board. (Source: mercurynews.com ) In a statement released on March 5, Yahoo announced that it has amended its bylaws to extend the nominating process to elect directors to its board. Problem is, the company has given no fixed date to the end of this ... (view more)

After directing his company to sink $240 million into a 1.6 percent stake in Facebook last year, the company's iconic leader has personally abandoned the social networking site in favor of the more business oriented LinkedIn. As a company, Microsoft ... is still working with Facebook of course; however, Gates himself has decided to set aside his profile because of the massive amounts of friend requests he was receiving; no doubt his 'FB friends' were also driving him crazy with constant invitations for mindless applications, but that's another story. The LinkedIn community seems to be very ... (view more)

Ever since Microsoft announced its failed attempt to acquire Sunnyvale-based Yahoo, the Internet portal has let out a flurry of activity to show that it is still strong enough to stand on its own. Now, Yahoo has announced its latest innovation: a ... Digg-style news page called "Yahoo! Buzz." The first thing Yahoo did once the Microsoft deal was denied was enter into a 'strategic partnership' with T-mobile to bring Yahoo content to European mobile phones. It has also acquired Maven networks, a video platform provider, to shore up its advertising business and the search company expanded its ... (view more)