Ajax Girl

So the tech and geek crowd is a little underwhelmed by the new $300 million Microsoft advertising campaign featuring Jerry Seinfeld that kicked off tonight. It’s mostly content free, with just one mention of Microsoft near the end. It’s a far cry from the brilliant Microsoft v. mac ads that Apple has run over the years.

So what’s the deal? In an email we’ve obtained from Microsoft SVP Bill Veghte to all employees, he talks about the goals of the campaign. The overall goal is to inspire consumers and “tell the story of how Windows enables a billion people around the globe to do more with their lives today.” This first phase, he says, “is designed to engage consumers and spark a new conversation about Windows – a conversation that will evolve as the campaign progresses, but will always be marked by humor and humanity.”

The ads are just an icebreaker, he ads, to reintroduce Microsoft to consumers. Later this month they’ll do a deeper dive, which I assume means talking about features.

One thing’s for sure - the ads have sparked conversation. Full text of email is below:

From: Bill Veghte
Sent: Thursday, September 04, 2008 5:37 PM
To: Microsoft - All Employees (QBDG)
Subject: Telling the story of Windows

Since it first launched nearly 25 years ago, Windows has been one of the most successful products in the history of the high tech industry. As we set our sights on the next 25 years, it is essential that we deliver incredible offerings on a great platform. We must also tell the story of how Windows enables a billion people around the globe to do more with their lives today. We must inspire consumers with the promise of what Windows uniquely makes possible across the PC, phone and web.

Telling our story means making significant investments to improve the way consumers experience Windows. To that end, we are focused on making improvements at practically every consumer touch point, from the moment they hear about the Windows brand in our advertising to how they learn more about Windows products online; from how they view Windows and try it at retail to how they use the entire range of Windows offerings – Windows Vista, Windows Mobile and Windows Live – across their whole life.

Today, we are kicking off a highly visible advertising campaign. The first phase of this campaign is designed to engage consumers and spark a new conversation about Windows – a conversation that will evolve as the campaign progresses, but will always be marked by humor and humanity. The first in this series of television ads airs initially in the U.S., and it aims to re-ignite consumer excitement about the broader value of Windows. The first television spot aired on NBC during the opening game of the NFL season and will be seen throughout the evening on various primetime programs. Worldwide, you can view this first TV spot at http://msw.

This first set of ads features Bill Gates and comedian Jerry Seinfeld. Think of these ads as an icebreaker to reintroduce Microsoft to viewers in a consumer context. Later this month, as the campaign moves into its next phase, we’ll go much deeper in telling the Windows story and celebrating what it can do for consumers at work, at play and on-the-go. At that time, I’ll be back to share more information about our plans to further strengthen the bond between consumers and Windows – one of the most amazing products, businesses and brands of all time, and, with the right tenacity, passion and agility from all of us, a story that has many great chapters to come.

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

Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/8FyvCQUp1tA/

Dropbox is one of those infuriating startups that just won’t show us much of what they’re up to beyond the basic user experience (see video). We first saw them at Y Combinator demo day in August 2007, and talked to them again in March when they went into private beta.

It looks like Sequoia was on them fast though. Last September, we’ve learned, the company raised a small $1.2 million round of financing from the fund, making it Sequoia’s second known investment in a YCombinator company (the other is Loopt).

Expect more news on Dropbox in the next week or two.

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

Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/aDhgmSF0LKA/

Wixi, the social filesharing network that debuted at TechCrunch40, has finally been released to the public. The site offers a media-centric virtual desktop that allows users to play their media files from any computer that supports Flash, and also serves as a service for file sharing between friends. Any users that sign up by October 1 will get unlimited storage for life, while members joining after that date will need to pay $5 a month for the privilege (though they will still be able to get a free account with a 3GB limit).

After creating a profile on the site, users upload their media files to their desktop, which they can then categorize using a familiar drag-and-drop folder system. Each file can be streamed from any computer that supports Flash from within the service’s media player. Users can also browse through files through the site’s search feature or their friends profiles, and when they find something they like, they can save it to their virtual desktop for future reference. However, you will only be able to stream this content - you won’t be able to download a file unless you were the original uploader.

Beyond Wixi’s standard web interface, there’s also an iPhone version of the site available at http://www.iphone.wixi.com, with plans to expand to more platforms like Nintendo’s Wii in the future.

Wixi was initially planning to launch to the public months ago - but it quickly became obvious that the service was facing some glaring piracy issues. The site was originally going to let users share all of their media with public, allowing strangers to peruse their files at will. Unsurprisingly, a large number of copyrighted films were quickly posted to Wixi’s servers, all of which could be easily streamed for free after conducting a simple search.

Wixi has since addressed most of these issues, though some copyright holders may still take issue with the service. Files greater than 100 MB are now restricted from public sharing - you’ll have to be someone’s friend if you want to stream a large file from their account, which makes movie sharing difficult. But that doesn’t solve all of Wixi’s problems: copyright owners will still object to letting even a small group of friends stream movies to eachother. And everyone will still be able stream smaller files like TV shows or music from anywhere, which will still make Wixi a lawsuit target.

While it will likely face a number of legal battles, I like Wixi. The site is an intuitive alternative to filesharing services like RapidShare or the standard Email route, and its interface is very polished. The mobile access is a nice touch too, allowing users to access their music and videos when they’re away from a computer.

For another web desktop, check out Stixy, which is more concerned with online document collaboration than file sharing.

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

Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/kBE9XOZZfoQ/

TechTicker’s Sarah Lacy interviewed Jason Calacanis and Michael Arrington about the upcoming TechCrunch50 conference. The first two segments are up. In the first segment, Lacy talks to the two about the origins of the conference and why they are so determined to end payola in tech events.

The conference is back on Sept. 8 and now dubbed TechCrunch50 for the 52 companies debuting at it. (Don’t ask.) It’s being held the same day as Demo this year and tech folks are choosing sides carefully. For a two-year-old conference, TechCrunch certainly has some big-name loyalists. Among its panel of experts are Marissa Mayer of Google, Marc Andreessen of Netscape, Opsware and Ning fame, Mark Cuban, Chad Hurley of YouTube, and some of the Valley’s most powerful investors. Not bad.

Center stage are the startups. Both Calacanis and Arrington are known for rubbing some people the wrong way, but even critics admit these are two guys obsessed with helping fledgling entrepreneurs. They don’t charge companies to present and spend hours with each one, helping founders hone their pitches.

In part two Lacy dives down into one of the trends we’re seeing with this year’s applicants: next generation virtual worlds. This is already big business, and tech advances are letting users do and see more with less bandwidth.

Segments 3-4 will be on TechTicker Friday.

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

Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/I04e4fjgNmM/

Those Jerry Seinfeld Microsoft advertisements started today. CrunchGear’s Doug Aamoth recorded the first ad during the Giants/Redskins game and put it up on the site. This is reportedly a $300 million ad spend. Seinfeld gets $10 million.

It’s a cute and cuddly situation comedy about shoes. Has a couple of moments. No mention of Microsoft or Windows other than “are they ever going to come out with something that will make our computers moist and chewy like cake so we can just eat them while working?” A butt wiggle by Gates followed. Overall, I give this a 0/10.

These ads can’t be all tech or they’ll lose the audience. But I can’t imagine this will sell software, either.

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

Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/uDIiB1tjqAE/

There are few things more hilariously hopeless than watching someone play a modern video game for the first time: their targeting cursors wobble aimlessly across the screen, unleashing a stream of bullets that manage to hit everything but their target. And amid their cries of frustration and accusations of cheating, they seem to inevitably come to one conclusion: “this game sucks”.

Unfortunately, this phenomenon is bad for the industry, as a bad experience can turn off a fledgling gamer from gaming entirely. And while developers do everything they can to make their games as accessible as possible to novices (or newbies, as they’re often called), nothing can make up for the years of experience many of today’s gamers have under their belts. At least, until now.

Meet GamerTrainer, a new startup that offers in-game tutoring sessions online across a variety of today’s most popular games. For $30 an hour (or less if purchased in bulk), you can have a private lesson with one of the site’s official GamerTrainers, all of whom have years of experience in the games they’re teaching.

At launch supported games include:

• Battlefield: Bad Company™
• Call of Duty 4®: Modern Combat™
• Guitar Hero® III and Rock Band™
• Halo® 2 and 3
• Madden NFL 09
• Rainbow Six® Vegas 1 and 2
• Super Smash Bros.® Brawl
• World of Warcraft

GamerTrainer has a great idea, and could easily be a hit if it can get enough exposure - in fact, it is a business model that the industry may want to consider embracing. In the days before the internet, gaming systems offered dedicated phone “hint lines”, which gamers could call whenever they ran into trouble (for only a few dollars a minute). Since then, games have become far more complex - written tips no longer suffice, and the barrier to entry has been raised. It’s in the industry’s best interest to help prospective gamers as much as possible, and private tutorials could easily be very lucrative way to increase a game’s user base.

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

Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/gcK5LB0Y60g/

Pushing beyond its mobile Skype service, iSkoot has purchased social.im, and instant messaging client that let’s you IM all of your Facebook friends. iSkoot already has a partnership with Skype to bring the VoIP service to mobile phones, including Skype-branded mobile phones in other countries. With social.im, it will add a Web-based IM service that taps into your social network.

Social.im was a promising service, until Facebook launched its own IM feature. The play here for iSkoot is to bring that social IM functionality to its mobile client (as well as news and other information).

Terms of the deal are not being disclosed. iSkoot has raised $13 million from investors including Khosla ventures and Charles River Ventures.

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

Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/8Zpt6SxGbMA/

The TechCrunch50 conference in San Francisco next Monday through Wednesday is now oversold. We had originally anticipated as many as 1,500 attendees (50% more than last year), but we blew through that number earlier this week and are now at around 1,650 attendees. The venue actually holds this many people without any problems, but we have to order more infrastructure stuff to accommodate everyone.

We will be cutting off ticket sales tonight at midnight or when we hit 1,700 attendees, whichever comes first, to get a final attendance count. So if you plan on attending, get on the ball now.

The final agenda is now on the TechCrunch50 site as well. Check the blog for regular updates.

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

Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/ibHVOQbp0qk/

Since Amazon released its video on demand service earlier today, I’ve pored over each and every section of the site to determine if it has what it takes to supplant Hulu as the best online video service providing professional network content. And after doing just that, I’ve quickly realized that it doesn’t.

Amazon has done all it can to solidify its stance in the online video market. First, it launched its Unbox service to compete with film streaming and now it has tried to compete in on-demand streaming of TV shows and movies. And by making TV shows and movies available online to be streamed directly to your computer, it’s quickly becoming apparent that Amazon is not necessarily focusing all its attention on iTunes, but on what it perceives to be the next frontier in video: online streaming.

Selection

Amazon is quick to point out that the videos it offers on its new service don’t have ads breaking into the flow of the shows. But that is because you have to pay $1.99 for each TV episode.  Granted, Amazon’s VOD service does have some free shows — I watched 30 Rock a few times — but the list of free shows is laughable, compared to the sheer number of paid shows.

So is it even fair to compare a paid service to a free one?  Sure it is.  Right now, for instance, Hulu is offering five episodes of The Office for free on its site with just a handful of commercials in each. I tried playing those same shows on Amazon to see if I could stream them for free on its service and was presented with a banner telling me I needed to buy the show after just 2 minutes of viewing.

If you’re fine with paying for TV shows, you’ll be happy to know that Amazon’s offering has quite a few — it claims it has over 40,000 movies and TV shows available. In fact, practically every episode from each season of every show in Amazon’s VOD service is available for purchase.  I was pleased to see that I could choose from a slew of networks like TV Land and NBC.  So Amazon lives up to its name in terms of breadth of selection.  But there was something frustrating about the fact that so few shows had a free stream available, given all the free TV to be found on the Web.

Experience

Overall, the Amazon VOD experience is quite similar to Hulu: you pick a network from the links on the left column, choose your show, and find your episode. The picture quality of the videos I watched were highly-detailed and I was pleasantly surprised by Amazon’s decision to offer such a large display instead of the somewhat smaller screens found on Hulu.

That said, the actual video playback was suspect at times and the video streams would skip too often. That may be the result of all the attention Amazon’s VOD is receiving today, but so far, I haven’t seen any improvements. I also didn’t like that the video playback screens were too cluttered with extras. The pages feature all the episodes below the video.  And Amazon’s ubiquitous recommendation engine picks underneath only muddies an otherwise clean screen.

Are no commercials worth it?

The main selling points of Amazon’s Video On Demand service are that it doesn’t have commercials, it has a slew of shows available and the picture quality is superb.But the streaming is choppy, the site layout is suspect, and some of the same content is available elsewhere for free.

Even though Hulu commercials can annoy me when I’m excited to see what happens next on The Office, I’ve never realized until now just how much I prefer them to shelling outcash for what is often a hit-or-miss experience.  I don’t mind paying for a show I enjoy, but $1.99 seems a bit steep for one episode and if it’s being played for free on Hulu, I’m not sure why I would even consider using Amazon’s service.

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Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/8A6GbT_JGFs/

Yahoo’s already crushed stock price has fallen further today - its down 8.36% since this morning, bringing it to a nearly five year low of $17.75. Yahoo has been as high as $34 in the last year (thanks to that Microsoft takeover bid), which means nearly $23 billion has been taken out of shareholder pockets in that period.

How long can Jerry weather this storm? Is he willing to drive the company into the ground to prove how much he hates Microsoft?

Plans must be in place at the board level to name a successor soon. In fact, I’m guessing some arrangement was made with Carl Icahn when he agreed to back off his proxy fight before the Yahoo shareholder meeting last month. If the stock price continues to fall, Yang will be forced to step down sooner (at least, any sane public company would remove him, Yahoo has not shown much sanity this year).

We’re still betting on Dan Rosensweig, who left Yahoo in December 2006, to come back. In June we named him as a possible successor should Yang bail out. Our guess is he’d take the job if asked.

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

Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/apKW7wIHo4Q/