USA ‘Suits Up’ to Social TV With ‘Suits Recruits’
When USA’s hit show Suits returns to the airwaves on June 14, fans will already be part of the storyline, thanks to a new interactive social TV campaign that the network is rolling out.
Known as “Suits Recruits,” the interactive and social media-laden experience allows fans to join the team at Pearson Hardman and help Harvey and Mike work on an on-going case.
http://mashable.com/2012/06/11/suits-recruits-social-tv/
Debunking Rumors of an Internet Takeover
This just in from Geneva: The United Nations has no plans to seize control of the Internet. The Web-snatching black helicopters have not left the hangar.
Internet conspiracy theorists will be disappointed. The latest one, fueled by “open Internet” groups, Internet companies like Google and some U.S. lawmakers, was that mouse-clicking bureaucrats at U.N. headquarters in Geneva, supported by governments suspicious of the United States, were scheming to take over the Internet itself.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/11/technology/debunking-rumors-of-an-internet-takeover.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all
Silicon Valley Bank targets UK technology sector
Silicon Valley Bank, the US hi-tech bank with $20bn (£13bn) in assets, opened its first UK branch on Monday, offering banking and loan services to the UK tech industry.
Chancellor George Osborne said the move proves “the UK is fast becoming the technology centre of Europe”.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18368713
Facebook is eating the world, except for China and Russia: World map of social networks
Twice a year (in June and in December), social media strategist Vincenzo Cosenzaupdates his ‘world map of social networks’, in which he shows what the most popular social network is in now 137 countries worldwide – at least according to a combination of Alexa and Google Trends for Websites traffic data.
The edition for June 2012 was published by Cosenza earlier this afternoon, and it shows just how dominant Facebook has become in almost all of the world.
http://thenextweb.com/socialmedia/2012/06/10/facebook-is-eating-the-world-except-for-china-and-russia-world-map-of-social-networks/
Twitter’s Hashtag Pages Could Be The New AOL Keywords — But Better
Earlier today, Twitter made its most aggressive grab for TV marketing dollars, with the release of a TV ad during the Pocono 400 and the launch of the corresponding Twitter.com/#NASCAR hashtag page.
I said at the time that the campaign reminds me somewhat of those AOL keywords that used to get tagged about during commercials and at the end of television episodes. See, once upon a time AOL — loving parent of this wonderful tech blog — was the way that a good part of the American population got onto this thing called the Internet. And so, for a time it was the go-to place to find out more about all your favorite brands, products, TV shows, movies — you name it.
http://techcrunch.com/2012/06/10/twitter-hashtag-pages-aol-keywords/
Swedes’ Twitter Voice: Anyone, Saying (Blush) Almost Anything
TROLLHATTAN, Sweden — Chances of embarrassment are unusually high when you are @Sweden, the nation’s official Twitter spokesperson.
“In one of my first tweets, I managed to spell ‘finish’ wrong — with two n’s, like ‘Finnish,’ ” said Erik Isberg, an 18-year-old high school student who was@Sweden for the week ending Sunday. “I thought, ‘How can I manage this for a week if I misspell a word like that?’ And then I thought, ‘It’s supposed to represent typical Swedes — and a lot of Swedes don’t speak perfect English.’ ”
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/11/world/europe/many-voices-of-sweden-via-twitter.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all
DOJ tries to block return of data to MegaUpload user
Returning videos to Kyle Goodwin, a former MegaUpload user, would set a bad precedent, the U.S. said in documents, copies of which were obtained by CNET.
The fate of legitimate user data that was locked up following the shut down of MegaUpload, one of the world’s most popular cloud-storage services, continues to vex the court overseeing the case. Negotiations between the stakeholders involved, including MegaUpload, the Motion Picture Association of America, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (the advocacy group representing Goodwin) and the U.S. Attorney’s office, can’t agree on what should be done with the information former users stored on MegaUpload’s servers.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57450153-93/doj-tries-to-block-return-of-data-to-megaupload-user/
Microsoft ‘mulled Nokia buyout, ran away screaming’
Analysis Rumours of a Microsoft buyout of fallen phone champ Nokia have re-emerged, prompted by nothing more, it seems, than Nokia’s sickly share price.
Nokia shares recently hit a 15-year low, dropping 40 per cent in the past three months alone*. But well-placed sources tell us that Microsoft was given access to Nokia’s books late last year in an attempt to evaluate which parts, if any, were worth acquiring.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/06/11/microsoft_nokia_merger/
Google reaches landmark agreement with French publishers to digitize out-of-print books
Google has been on the receiving end of a number of lawsuits in recent times, for varying reasons. Last year we reported that three French publishers were suing the Internet giant for almost €10m, claiming that Google scanned thousands of their books without consent.
This followed a similar case from two years previous, when La Martiniere – another French publisher – sued Google for the exact same reason, and it was successful in its claim.
http://thenextweb.com/google/2012/06/11/google-reaches-landmark-agreement-with-french-publishers-to-digitize-out-of-print-books/
How Facebook and Google manage users who hate every redesign
Jon Wiley, the lead designer behind Google’s home page, is used to taking heat any time he fiddles with the search giant’s iconic stark-white design – no matter how small the change may be.
Early on in his tenure, in the fall of 2009, he came up with a simple tweak that he thought would have a major impact on user behaviour. He decided to make the search box wider. No big deal.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/digital-culture/social-web/how-facebook-and-google-manage-users-who-hate-every-redesign/article4239399/
The Future Fruits Of Apple + Facebook
When CEO Tim Cook kept saying “stay tuned” at D10about new Apple collaborations with Facebook, he may have meant it literally. Soon you could be tuning into Facebook on Apple TV, or seeing your iTunes or iPod activity auto-shared to Facebook. Boosted revenue, better ad targeting, and trouble for mutual enemy Google are all potential benefits.
http://techcrunch.com/2012/06/10/apple-facebook/
Apple announces refreshed MacBook Air: Ivy Bridge processor, USB 3.0, shipping today
Apple’s skinnier, lighter MacBook option checked in for another (irregular) hardware update at this year’s WWDC. Just under a year since the last time the range was renovated, the move to Ivy Bridge processors wasn’t the only thing that changed. First up, those processors will reach up to 2GHz Core i7, with Turbo Boost tipping these up to 3.2GHz. The FaceTime camera is now 720p, with the display on the 11-inch model now 1366 x 768 (and Intel’s HD graphics 4000 doing the pushing). The 13-incher will house a 1440 x 900 screen and both will arrive with a pair of USB 3.0 ports and capacity for up to 8GB of RAM. Storage will now extend to 512GB, while prices will start at $999 for the most basic option, up to $1099 for the speediest offering. All of the new models look set to be $100 less than their comparable predecessor. The best part? They’ll start shipping today.
http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/11/apple-macbook-air-refresh-2012/
