Are Amazon and Google on a Collision Course for 2013?

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos got a “wake-up” call a decade ago, when he got word of a project at Google to scan and digitize product catalogs. “He saw it as a warning that the Web search engine could encroach upon his online retail empire, according to a former Amazon executive,” reports Reuters. That was just the beginning of a rivalry that will continue heating up in 2013. The two will compete even more fiercely in the online advertising, retail, mobile gadgets and cloud computing realms. Continue reading Are Amazon and Google on a Collision Course for 2013?

Facebook to Aim for TV Dollars by Delivering Video Ads to News Feed

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

Will Amazon Launch New Focus on Online-Based Advertising in 2013?

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?

Will Failure of Internet Self-Regulation Lead to Do-Not-Track Option?

“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?

New York City Introduces the Reinvent Payphones Design Challenge

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg introduced the Reinvent Payphones Design Challenge in early December — “an open call for ideas to bring the payphone into the 21st century — and maybe beyond,” writes Businessweek. What might these new payphones look like? “City officials can envision payphones that are solar charging stations or places to do limited commerce — purchase tickets, say, for the theater or mass transportation. Think Internet café on the corner where anyone can look up local attractions — or the closest green market — and get directions for walking or taking public transportation,” notes the article. Continue reading New York City Introduces the Reinvent Payphones Design Challenge

Android Devices On the Rise in China, But Stripped of Google Play Store

As China continues to expand its smartphone market, edging past the U.S. for the title of world’s largest, “the rise of the Android mobile operating system should be a huge success story for Google, which developed and maintains Android,” writes Technology Review. However, even as shipments of the more affordable Android devices are on the rise in China, it’s often overlooked “how little Google itself is benefiting from Android’s growth in China,” according to the article. Continue reading Android Devices On the Rise in China, But Stripped of Google Play Store

Children and Tablets: Nickelodeon and PBS to Launch Preschool Apps

Nick Jr.’s newest television project “Wallykazam” will first be introduced to the public as a mobile product. The show doesn’t come out until 2014, but educational apps based on the show’s characters and concepts will appear in app stores late next year. According to The New York Times, it is parents who are steering this industry shift. “Driving the change, at Nickelodeon and other preschool television brands, are parents who are increasingly putting mobile devices into preschoolers’ hands and laps,” notes the article.

As TV set ownership declines, tablet ownership is on the rise. “Eighty-eight percent of the parents surveyed said they owned a television, down from 95 percent in 2010,” according to new research commissioned by Sesame Workshop.

The research also shows just how striking educational app growth has been recently. “In October, 27 percent of United States households with children ages 3 to 5 had an iPad, up from 22 percent in April. In those households, 40 percent of preschoolers used the iPad for educational apps, up from 27 percent in April,” writes NYT.

The thinking at PBS is different now, a combination of digital and television. As the article notes, the network has “‘sent away’ a number of producers who came to PBS with ideas for television shows with no thought-out mobile component, telling them, ‘Come back when you have a plan.’”

The Future of Exhibition and Aesthetics of High Frame Rate Cinema

“’The Hobbit’ gave us a chance to see a movie projected at 48 fps, and, unless he changes his mind, James Cameron plans to show us ‘Avatar 2’ at 60 fps. Others, including Douglas Trumbull, are talking — and working in — 120 fps,” writes Creative COW. While some embrace the change, others are less in favor of disrupting traditional filmmaking and exhibition. “It’s to be expected that many people who’ve spent a lifetime watching and making 24 fps movies object to the look, many calling it similar to TV or video. HFR Cinema simply goes against the grain,” notes the article. Continue reading The Future of Exhibition and Aesthetics of High Frame Rate Cinema

Vectorized Streaming Video: British Researchers Aim to Kill the Pixel

The pixel might be on its way out, if a team of British researchers have their way. They’d like to see the vector take over within the next five years, reports ExtremeTech. While vector graphics are well suited for illustrations, clipart, maps and typography, bitmap (which is a grid of pixels) graphics are used for all else, including streaming videos, digital cameras, movie editing, video game textures and more. Continue reading Vectorized Streaming Video: British Researchers Aim to Kill the Pixel

For the Cost of a Bicycle, Parents Can Purchase Kid-Friendly Tablets

For around $200, parents can buy their kids child-appropriate tablet computers. According to The New York Times, children “understand that this single device is a million-channel TV, music collection, game machine, camera and e-book library, and a way to socialize with friends.” The article reviews 21 different kid-friendly tablets, including the $150 Android-powered Kurio 7, MEEP and Tabeo tablets. “The Nabi 2 costs a bit more ($200) but has a noticeably better screen,” suggests the article. “The Nabi Jr. ($100) is smaller and can double as a baby monitor.” Continue reading For the Cost of a Bicycle, Parents Can Purchase Kid-Friendly Tablets

Marketing: Retailers Try Twitter for Promoting Holiday Shopping Deals

Retailers are taking a more aggressive approach on Twitter this holiday season, using the social network to heavily promote products and deals. An example of this strategy involves Best Buy, which is using Twitter differently this year than it did in the past. “Last year, the electronics retailer bought ads on Twitter to promote sales the week of Thanksgiving, and not much else,” writes the Wall Street Journal. Continue reading Marketing: Retailers Try Twitter for Promoting Holiday Shopping Deals

Google Fields Bids from Arris and Pace on Motorola STB Business

As the Google TV platform fails to gain traction, Google is looking to sell its Motorola Home Business, which is responsible for building set-top boxes for cable providers. The Motorola cable box business was acquired by Google for $12.5 billion last year. According to Bloomberg, Google has received multiple offers, the most compelling coming from Arris Group Inc. and Pace Plc. Google reportedly wants to sell in order to focus on its high-end smartphone business to ramp up competition with Apple. Continue reading Google Fields Bids from Arris and Pace on Motorola STB Business

Gollum Actor Andy Serkis on Changes in Motion-Capture Technology

In a video interview with Wired, actor Andy Serkis (who plays the computer-generated character of Gollum in the popular “Lord of the Rings” trilogy and the upcoming “The Hobbit”) speaks about his recurring role and about advances in motion-capture technology.

Since the 2001 release of “Lord of the Rings,” motion capture has changed significantly, “bridging some of the ‘disconnect’ [Serkis] felt while filming on separate live-action and motion-capture stages for the original trilogy,” according to Wired.

Serkis recently co-founded a London-based digital-effects house called The Imaginarium, which specializes in motion capture. In the 2-minute interview, he talks about how developments have changed his acting experience and what it was like to return to the role of Gollum.

“It’s still in its infancy in terms of where it’s going to go and the ability that it gives an actor to transform, while retaining a real emotional sort of truth” says Serkis of motion-capture technology. “No matter how big, or wacky, or abstract the design of a character, it still is always rooted in this emotional, truthful actor’s performance.”

After Years of Offshore Production, U.S. Generates Insourcing Boom

General Electric’s Appliance Park, a place where manufacturing jobs once boomed in America in the from the 1950’s to the 70’s, saw most of its business shipped overseas in the 2000’s. It wasn’t just there. Throughout the country, factory jobs were lost seven times faster between 2000 and 2010 than between 1980 and 2000. Continue reading After Years of Offshore Production, U.S. Generates Insourcing Boom