Ajax Girl

A Reuters article earlier today gave a few details on MySpace’s upcoming “new feeds” product (which is what Facebook calls their similar product launched a year ago. We spoke to MySpace and got a much deeper look at the product, as well as screenshots of how it will look.

The new product, to be called “Friends Updates,” will begin to roll out to users this Thursday, says MySpace. Users from New Zealand and Ireland, where Friends Updates is being beta tested, can already use it.

The new product will give users a steady stream of event information from their friends. Profile updates, blog posts and photo/video uploads are all noted. See screenshot to right (click for larger view) for a visual.

MySpace VP Products Steve Pearman told me that the product that launches on Thursday is just the first iteration; they have additional features slated for release over the next 18 months.

Key differences With Facebook News Feeds

There are a number of key differences between Facebook News Feeds and MySpace Friends Updates. A key focus of the product appears to be not pissing off users. Other differences allow more granular control of news distribution.

MySpace will only begin gathering information about a user once they’ve logged in and have viewed an interstitial page that notifies them of the change - until they see and click on that interstitial page, no information is gathered for the Friends Updates. Users are also given a link to a setting area where default options can be changed, or opted out entirely. This will hopefully help MySpace avoid the user backlash that Facebook faced shortly after launching News Feeds.

Users are also given much more granular control over who can see data. Specific friends can be selected to not receive updates. Pearman gave an example of not necessarily wanting your girlfriend to know when you change your status to “single” (although a quick look at the profile would let her know anyway). Users can also select from one or more categories of information to share.

The process distills down to a requiring a double positive - you must agree to share with specific friends, and they must agree to subscribe. Without both sides agreeing, the information doesn’t appear.

Pearman says to expect third party application access to the news feed in the near future. In fact it was one of the key reasons they built the product, he says.

Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily.

Can’t see the video? Click here

Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/191091648/

Cali Lewis and her team of videobloggers have created something that I’ve been looking for for years: a video Yule Log. Five dollars gets you a small, iPod-ready version while $10 gets you a compedium of Yule Log videos including versions for the Apple TV and other hi-res devices.

Proceeds go to multiple charities including Heifer International.

Product Page via CrunchGear

Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.

Can’t see the video? Click here

Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/191028997/

Intuit has signed a definitive agreement to purchase Web 1.0 survivor and website provider Homestead Technologies for $170 million.

Menlo Park base Homestead launched in 1998 as a free web site host targeted at small businesses that competed with the then wildly popular Geocities.

Intuit, best known as the creators of the Quicken financial software package said that the acquisition would allow the company to offer web site creation and ecommerce solutions to small businesses. Intuit has a checkered history online, with its business directory site Zipingo closing in August. Intuit currently has a partnership with Google that sees Google services embedded in Intuit products.

The deal is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2008.

Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0

Can’t see the video? Click here

Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/191025378/

Fox Interactive Media (FIM), the online arm of News Corp has plans to become a full service online advertising agency that provides advertising to non-News Corp sites.

FIM President Peter Levinsohn told the audience at the Reuters Media Summit today that the advertising network is already in discussion with other News Corp sites for ad sales and that an expansion outside News Corp could come as soon as the first half of 2008, according to Reuters.

Levinsohn said that the service, known internally as “FIM Serve” was originally built to serve advertising on MySpace, which would be presumed to be part of, or the same service announced by MySpace November 4. He also noted that the service focuses on graphical advertising and would not conflict with the Google/ MySpace search listings deal.

It would however see News Corp go head to head with Google presuming that Google’s acquisition of DoubleClick is finalized.

News Corp continues its push towards becoming the major online player behind Google; the company’s purchase of MySpace for $580 million in 2005 turned out to be the bargain of the century, particularly now that Facebook has been valued at $15 billion. News has purchased a range of online properties including IGN, Flecktor, Photobucket and Rotten Tomatoes amongst others, and was rumored by TechCrunch UK November 22 to be in talks to acquire business social networking site LinkedIn. That list excludes the already enormous traffic captured by News Corp’s online destinations of its vast media empire which will shortly include the Dow Jones company and the Wall Street Journal. We are not that far away from waking up and possibly seeing a world online where the competition is no longer Google vs Yahoo, but Google vs News Corp. Others have failed in challenging Google but so far News has bought wisely and in areas where it believes it can add value and provide synergies across existing properties, and its size and scope may well see it passing Yahoo shortly as Google’s main competition.

Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily.

Can’t see the video? Click here

Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/191010237/

An update due to be available to XBox 360 users December 4 will bring a social networking style feature to users of the XBox Live service.

Xbox Live, for those not familiar with the service, is Microsoft’s online gaming service that allows users to play online games with friends and others. The service has always supported a friends list, but the new changes will now allow users to see friends of friends, opening up gaming opportunities beyond current contacts.

Ars Technica calls the move “very MySpace” but social networking on XBox Live wont be in the same format. Online game collaboration on Xbox includes voice chat, so the social aspects wont resemble the profile pages and similar social networking aspects we’ve come to expect from social networking sites, but it will be a much more social service in a traditional sense of the word social.

The update will include privacy settings that will allow users to make their friends list available to everyone (members 18 or older), friends only (13 years and up) or blocked, which will be the default setting for users under 13 but available as a choice to everyone.

Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.

Can’t see the video? Click here

Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/190992322/

When news hit last week that Facebook was publishing user information gathered from third party sites (like ecommerce purchases) and publishing in the news feed, my assumption was it would quickly blow over. Facebook is continuously pushing the envelope with new features, and there always seems to be short term backlash when they try something new.

But it isn’t clear that the new Beacon controversy is going to blow over so easily. First, MoveOn.org has made this their Cause Du Jour and seems hell bent on forcing Facebook to change its policies. Rumors surfaced that Facebook was censoring search results that included the MoveOn.org privacy group (flatly denied, privately, by Facebook).

Today, more news. MoveOn has reviewed early screen shots that we published suggesting that Beacon would include broad opt-out provisions by users. Those features never made it to the production release. MoveOn issued a press release noting the discrepancy and demanding that Facebook implement the original plan.

CNET picked up the story and ran with it. In an update, Facebook commented:

Facebook is listening to feedback from its users and committed to evolving Beacon so users have even more control over the actions shared from participating sites with their friends on Facebook…Facebook already has made changes to ensure that no information is shared unless a user receives notifications both on a participating website and on Facebook.

Notifications won’t be enough for MoveOn and many users who are seriously pissed off at Facebook right now. Facebook’s best move is to make the new Beacon service opt-in only. But that reduces the value of the service to third parties who supply the information to Facebook, and get free links in return.

This story clearly isn’t over.

Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0

Can’t see the video? Click here

Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/190975550/

Okay, we’re taking credit for this one. A year ago, Mat Mullen’s iPod was stolen from his car while he was attending a TechCrunch MeetUp in Silicon Valley. (Sorry, Mat). He was so upset that he came up with a way to get them back. Yesterday, he launched the beta of iHound Software, which makes tracking software for USB devices like iPods, digital cameras, and USB drives.

The software acts like a secret beacon, transmitting a device’s IP address, computer name, and ISP name whenever it is plugged into a computer. For now the software is free, but Mullen plans on charging something along the lines of $1 per device per month, starting next February. (The first device will likely remain free, though, as a way to get people to try the software). The pricing is similar to that of GadgetTrak, which does the same thing. Warning: iHound does not yet support Macs or cell phones (GadgetTrak does).

Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily.

Can’t see the video? Click here

Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/190970353/

The team over at Docstoc has compiled a document (embedded below) with traffic charts from Alexa and Compete for all forty of the companies that presented at TechCrunch40.

As could have been expected, many of these presenters’ websites experienced traffic surges around the time of the conference, only to see their traffic drop back off to pre-conference levels. Wixi, Flock, Docstoc, and WooMe seem to have escaped this fate completely. Mint, Powerset, TripIt, Ponoko, Clickable, Befunky, Metaplace, and Kaltura trailed off significantly but settled at a higher level of traffic than before. Mint, Wixi, Flock, and Docstoc experienced the highest levels of traffic with TC40 winner Mint even hitting the 200,000-visitors mark at one point.

Of course, all of these observations could be misguided given Alexa’s track record. But most of these startups are too small to be tracked by Comscore. Compete data has been added for comparison purposes.

Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.

Can’t see the video? Click here

Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/190955020/

Everyone is trying to cash in on social networking these days. The latest attempt comes from Classmates Media, which just filed to go public at a valuation of $600 to $700 million. That is a smidgeon of Facebook’s still-private $15 billion valuation, but Classmates is no Facebook.
Its site, Classmates.com, is more a competitor of Reunion.com (which raised $25 million last April). While Facebook’s U.S. visitors grew 129 percent in September to 31 million (according to comScore), Classmate.com’s shrank 12 percent to 13 million. (Even Reunion.com managed an 18 percent gain).

Before buying this IPO, investors should look at who is selling. That would be United Online, which is spinning off 20 percent of its Classmates subsidiary and taking $50 million of the expected proceeds as payment for a loan (apparently, United Online didn’t want to simply invest in the business). United Online will keep the other 80 percent, and United Online CEO Mark Goldstone will also be the CEO of Classmates Media, and he is personally getting 2.8 million options at the IPO price. United Online’s current market cap is $1.2 billion. If it can price the IPO where it expects, at $10 to $12 a share, that would imply that half its value is attributable to Classmates.

Here’s what we learn from a quick perusal of Classmates’ S1:

—Revenues the first nine months of 2007 weer $140 million. (Full-year 2006 revenues weer $139 million; 2005 revenues were $85 million).
—Net income the first nine months was $1.6 million. ($1.9 million loss in 2006; $8.2 million loss in 2005).
—50 million registered users as of September, 2007. Only 12.8 million of which are active and 3 million of which pay on average $3.33 a month to email and connect with old friends directly.
—Monthly churn of 4.6 percent

Classmates makes money primarily from those people willing to pay a subscription. It also operates MyPoints, a loyalty awards marketing service, and owns a French social network, Trombi, and Sweden’s Stayfriends.

Here was the doozy from the Risk Factors section:

If our social networking members do not interact with our Web sites, our business and financial results will suffer.

Our success is dependent upon our social networking members interacting with our Web sites. Currently, the network effect on our social networking Web sites is limited, and the vast majority of our member activity is within our high school communities. Our members do not visit our Web sites frequently and spend a limited amount of time on our Web sites when they visit. In addition, only a limited number of our social networking members post photographs and information about themselves, engage in message board discussions, view other members’ profiles or participate in the other features on our Web sites. If we are unable to encourage our members to interact more frequently with our social networking Web sites and to increase the amount of user generated content they provide, our ability to attract new users to our Web sites, convert free members to paying subscribers and attract advertisers to our Web sites will be adversely affected. As a result, our business and financial results will suffer, and we will not be able to grow our business as planned.

Oh, and the FTC is investigating its membership subscription auto-renewal policy, where it just keeps charging your credit card until you tell it to stop. (Imagine what its churn rate would be if it didn’t resort to that sleazy tactic?). Maybe the FTC should try to find out why anyone would pay to be part of a social network when there are so many others out there that let you keep up with your high school or college friends for free.

Update: Just got October 2007 social networking numbers from comScore. Classmates did a little better with 14.4 million U.S. visitors, which was still a one percent year-over-year decline. (Facebook’s U.S. traffic rose 118 percent to 32.9 million during the same period).

Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0

Can’t see the video? Click here

Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/190914032/

Most of the time you should be working on The Next Most Important Thing. Whatever that is, large or small. But there are times when it’s okay to depart. Times when you need to depressurize after completing a dive in the stressful, complex pool of Big Problems. Nobody can stand to be all fire, all the time.

So think about layering your priorities accordingly. Don’t schedule one Herculean task after another and leave all the coasters for the end. Sprinkle some of the easy stuff like pit stops over the course.

It’ll give you a time to breathe and to make progress without wringing out every drop of smarty smarts from your overcooked brain.

Source: Signal vs. Noise
Original Article: http://www.37signals.com/svn/posts/716-depressurize-the-priorities