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GOOGLE will announce a new service that turns the AdSense network into a video distribution tool. Web sites will be allowed to embed ad-supported YouTube content that is contextually relevant to their site, similar to how they currently embed relevant ads. The move will give video creators a distribution channel that extends beyond YouTube.com, as Continue Reading →

Is there finally an interactive television business? We’re about to find out. For years, various companies have attempted to demonstrate that Americans are ready, willing and able to interact with their television programming. Unfortunately, the technological infrastructure for creating a true interactive television experience has never been deployed at scale. So, there has never been Continue Reading →

GOOGLE‘s entry into the mobile phone market will come purely as a software provider, according to the NY Times. The search-giant has been working for two years on a mobile Linux-based operating system, which it will offer to handset makers for free. The company is seeking to extend its advertising dominance into the mobile market, Continue Reading →

IAG has done a study of over 1,000 “hybrid” ads, which closely merge advertising with content to combat ad-skipping. The ads generated 30% higher brand recall than traditional ads. The study found that Jay Leno’s recent live-to-air ad for Garmin doubled that company’s usual viewer recall numbers, and CW’s “content wraps” were among the highest-scoring Continue Reading →

JEFF ZUCKER told the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that content owners are “losing the battle” against piracy. Citing piracy as a cause for massive losses in jobs, revenues, and taxes, Zucker urged the Chamber to make it a top priority. Zucker said NBC Universal is “ripping apart old business models” to deal with the new Continue Reading →

MICROSOFT has announced new models of the Zune portable media player. The company now offers Zunes with more storage, better screens for watching video content, and wireless syncing with computers. Flash-based Zunes were also released. Microsoft pledged to improve its Zune software, and has created Zune Social, a networking site that encourages users to share Continue Reading →

NOKIA has signed yet another deal that undermines carrier control over mobile media. News Corp., Sony Pictures, and CNN have signed agreements with the handset maker to distribute videos to Nokia phones. The handsets will ship with Video Center, a program which links directly to video content from the partnering distributors. Videos will include short Continue Reading →

JOOST will officially release its peer-to-peer Internet TV application to the general public today. The software will be upgraded to offer improved navigation and search, with an open API that allows developers to create Joost widgets. Joost has averaged 50,000 downloads per week while in limited beta, and the company expects that number to reach Continue Reading →

Amazon.com has launched AmazonMP3.com, an online download-to-own site. It’s awesome! If you think you have shopped for music online in the past, stop reading now, go directly to http://www.amazonmp3.com and you’ll get an up-close, personal view of what you’ve been missing. Did I mention, it’s awesome! To be fair, I’m a pretty big Amazon fan Continue Reading →

APPLE ends the week in the iGutter. Yesterday, the company released an iPhone update targeting users that have installed third-party applications on the device, unlocked it, or otherwise hacked it in some way. The update has rendered some of the phones completely useless, turning them into iBricks. This, absurdly enough, seems to be the intended Continue Reading →