According to sources briefed on the company’s plans, Facebook “is set to unveil a new video-ad product in the first half of next year in its largest attempt to date to attract big swaths of ad dollars from TV advertisers,” reports Ad Age. Those same sources said the company will “offer video advertisers the chance to target video ads to large numbers of Facebook users in their news feeds on both the desktop version of Facebook as well as on Facebook apps on mobile phones and tablets,” according to the article. Continue reading Facebook to Aim for TV Dollars by Delivering Video Ads to News Feed

Creative lab Party is reinventing the photo booth. From now until January 14, 2013, consumers in Harajuku, Tokyo who have an extra 15 minutes and $250 can get striking miniature models of themselves. “It’s a reservations-only combination 3D scanner and printer that won’t just capture a flat face shot, but a head-to-toe, 360-degree, topographically accurate rendition of you,” reports Fast Company. Continue reading First 3D Photo Booth Turns People Into Action Figures for $250

In a five-minute video interview with Beet.TV, Matthew Durgin, director of Smart TV Partnerships at LG, discusses the LG Cloud designed for interaction with LG Smart TVs, the emergence of second screen apps and new content partnerships for the company’s two-screen API. The API allows users to manage and interact with programming on their televisions using an app on their tablet or smartphone. LG has been making the two-screen solution available to some of its content partners who have been implementing it to enable surfing content on a smaller screen and then pushing the content to the main screen. Continue reading CES 2013: LG to Push Cloud and Second Screens in Las Vegas

DARPA hopes to improve U.S. military wireless speeds by a factor of 500. The 100 Gb/s RF Backbone project plans to transmit wireless communications at 100 gigabits per second over a 200 kilometer range, writes ExtremeTech. Home wireless networks usually peak at about 100Mbps, so transmitting 100Gbps over 200 kilometers will be extremely difficult, notes the article. Continue reading DARPA Developing 100Gbps Wireless Technology with 120-Mile Range

Amazon could possibly throw the online advertising world into a frenzy with its upcoming “proprietary real-time bidding platform that plugs into exchanges and supply-side platforms, including Google’s AdX and PubMatic,” set for a full release in early 2013. “This platform lets the company retarget its users across the Web based on their browsing and purchase habits on Amazon’s owned-and-operated properties,” reports Ad Week. With Amazon’s recommendation engine and database, this could “be a game changer,” according to the article. Continue reading Will Amazon Launch New Focus on Online-Based Advertising in 2013?

While Facebook’s upgraded Nearby local search feature may threaten Foursquare one day, the current Foursquare product still performs much better than Facebook’s, according to GigaOM. Facebook has a much larger reach (600 million mobile users compared to about 25 million for Foursquare), but offers an inferior search feature. The Facebook feature uses friends’ check-ins, recommendations, and likes to help users find local places, but because most Facebook users do not check in or interact with local businesses on the social network, the feature does not work optimally. This feature could be valuable if Facebook could convince more people to use check-ins and recommendations. Continue reading Nearby Local Search from Facebook is Not Quite a Foursquare Killer

Tim Squyres has worked as director Ang Lee’s editor for two decades, helping Lee to create films such as “Hulk,” “Sense and Sensibility,” “Caution,” “Couching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” and most recently, the 3D spectacle “Life of Pi.” The Academy Award nominated editor spoke to The Verge about the new film as well as technological advances in editing. Squyres says he’s seen the finished “Life of Pi” 30 to 50 times because movies are produced in so many different forms: “3D, 2D, IMAX, film, 2D digital, 2D film, and for audio there are 7.1, 5.1, Dolby Atmos, near-field for TV speakers, and more,” he said. Continue reading Editor Tim Squyres Talks Challenges of CG Tigers and 3D for Life of Pi

Nintendo activated the Wii U’s Nintendo TVii functionality this week. The service will directly integrate Amazon Instant Video and Hulu Plus, and will upgrade its Netflix and TiVo applications in early 2013. Wii U wants to become not just a gaming device, but a device through which families run all of their entertainment. This includes gaming as well as television and video chatting, explains Steve Moffitt, Nintendo’s executive VP of sales and marketing. Continue reading Nintendo Activates TVii Media Entertainment Service for Wii U Gamers

A new display technology called zSpace by California-based Infinite Z allows users to “feel” 3D images by tracking user’s eyes and hand movement. The technology can also create effects where users can move their heads around 3D video objects to see what is behind them. “The zSpace display could be revolutionary for designers and animators, but could also inspire innovation in computer gaming and augmented reality,” writes Technology Review. Continue reading Virtual Holographic 3D: zSpace Display Technology from Infinite Z

Kickstarter has helped establish an effective crowdsourcing model for startups, and now Tugg.com has begun to show how filmmakers and exhibitors can benefit from a similar approach. Tugg.com allows people to set up movie screenings where customers pay for reserved tickets, and the screenings only happen after the advanced sales cover expenses. Indie filmmakers are using the online booking site to organize screenings of their projects. Continue reading Crowdsourced Cinema: Tugg.com Borrows a Page from Kickstarter

The Copyright Royalty Board has ruled to increase royalties for satellite radio services. Sirius XM Radio currently pays 8 percent of its gross revenue in royalties, but this will increase to 11 percent by 2017, reports The New York Times. The satellite radio companies will pay the royalties to nonprofit SoundExchange, which then distributes the royalties to labels and musicians. Continue reading Royalties for Satellite Radio Companies to Increase Through 2017

“If you want to see how industry self-regulation can fall short, take a look at the online advertising business and the fight over a do-not-track protocol to protect consumer privacy,” suggests the Wall Street Journal. “It would seem to be in business’s interest to keep customers happy,” notes the article, “to give those who want it the guarantee that they aren’t being tracked on the Internet.” Continue reading Will Failure of Internet Self-Regulation Lead to Do-Not-Track Option?

IBM’s annual 5 in 5 spotlights innovative technologies. This year the list focuses on technologies that mirror human senses: Touch, Sight, Hearing, Taste and Smell. Continue reading Smarter Planet: IBM Details Five Tech Areas That Mirror Human Senses

In a Forbes guest post, Thomas Stuermer, a senior exec of Accenture‘s Electronics & High-Tech group, details three new trends in the smartphone market that his company has identified as potentially having a significant impact on business, technology and consumers: Continue reading Accenture Outlines Three Significant Changes Coming to Smartphones