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Short reads on a Saturday morning:
• Rafat Ali announced that he is leaving his post at ContentNext in July. Ali was the the founder of ContentNext, the parent of paidContent, which was acquired by Guardian News & Media in July of 2008.
Ali may not have been cutout for the corporate publishing world writing that it has been challenging since the acquisition. "The last two years under Guardian have been illuminating, to say the least. Being part of a big company brings its own level of complexities; during a huge financial crisis, it makes for a roller-coaster ride. The high of the sale dissipated quickly, and pulling back and hunkering down isn’t fun, much less entrepreneurial," Ali wrote for the paidContent.co.uk website.
"As for my future, the honest answer is, I am in the middle of figuring it out. The good part is I have lots of choices; the bad part is that I have lots of choices. Very likely it will be another startup, in a larger media and marketing space. But in the immediate future, you will see my head pop up in places like Iceland, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Socotra Island (Google it!) and other parts of Central Asia," Ali writes.
• Speaking of acquisitions . . . Google got the word on Friday that the FTC will not be standing in its way of its acquisition of mobile ad network AdMob.
The FTC specifically pointed out that Apple's own mobile ad network plans played a part in the FTC's decision.
• Google's Google I/O developer conference in San Francisco was the venue for a major announcement: the rollout of Google TV.
The product of a partnership with Sony, Logitech and others, Google TV promises to bring the Android platform to television, along with the ability to run Android apps on your TV.
Once again there is an Apple angle here: Apple's own Apple TV product, with its lack of web features, and lack of full integration with other Apple products, opened the door for Google.
• ST Media Group International announced that it was acquiring Boutique Media Group, the publisher of boutique Design magazine and associated events.
“The addition of boutique DESIGN gives us a firm foothold in the hospitality design industry,” said ST president Tedd Swormstedt. “And because there’s little overlap in their circulations, the two magazines offer advertisers a broader reach at bundle rates.”
Michael Schneider, president of Boutique Media Group, will now take over the role of publisher of the Hospitality Brands at St Media. Schneider was a principal in the transaction, along with his father, Eric Schneider, who will continue to publish Fabrics & Furnishings International under the Sipco Publications umbrella.
• Time for another demo video! Sports Illustrated, working with The Wonderfactory, have again produced a prototype video of what its magazine will one day look like -- this time on the web using HTML5.
Last December, if you recall, they got people excited by producing a video of what SI would look like on a hypothetical tablet -- wink, wink, nod, nod. That tablet, Apple's iPad was announced a month later, and launch on April 3rd. We are still waiting that SI application, probably because of the iPad's lack of Flash support.
But now SI's editor, Terry McDonnell, has this look at a Flash-less prototype. It still looks good, and this time, we hear, it may make it to the marketplace. Because it uses HTML5, it can be viewed on the web, as well (presumably) as being iPad compliant.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Week in Review
Friday, May 21, 2010
Photoblogging Friday - 20
It is Friday, 'nuff said. What will we remember about this week a year from now: that Google made a whole series of announcements at its Google I/O conference that will have lasting impacts, or that the financial markets continued to collapse due to the weakness of both the European and American economies?
Just last week much of the news centered around the negotiations that followed the contentious British election, with David Cameron of the Tories becoming prime minister of May 11. Dean Brierly, our contributor, and the publisher of the Photographers Speak website, took notice:
← David Cameron, leader of
the Tories, and new Prime Minister.
Andrew Winning/AP
This week’s Photoblogging Friday might be titled, with apologies to Charles Dickens, “A Tale of Two Faces.” In the photo taken on May 13, 2010, new Prime Minister David Cameron leads his first cabinet meeting at No. 10 Downing Street. Note the confidence and enthusiasm (and perhaps a touch of smugness) as Cameron and his ministers contemplate their ascension to power. They seem eager to begin their rule, despite the staggering economic problems facing England. This can’t last.
of the Labour Party:
Martin Argles/Guardian →
In stark contrast is this May 12 photo showing outgoing PM Gordon Brown taking the phone call from Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg that sealed his resignation. Brown’s placement in the background and the empty chairs in the foreground provide eloquent comment on his political isolation and marginalization.
End of the week thoughts: Google and Apple
The world of mobile computing, television, advertising -- you name it -- seemed to tilt radically towards Google this week, and against Apple. But let's not forget that this week was the week of Google's developer conference, the time the search giant makes major introductions.
In two weeks, on the other hand, Apple's own developer conference (WWDC) will take place at the same venue as Google's event this week -- the Moscone Center in San Francisco. At that time Apple will be introducing the newest version of the iPhone, and will be releasing the newest iPhone OS, as well.
In the end, it is these releases that often set Apple apart from its competitors. (Anyone still take about the Microsoft Courier?)
What Apple appears to be losing, however, is the fun-factor. John Gruber at Daring Fireball points to this post from Mike Silverman who is feeling a bit nostalgic for the old days of Apple's developer conferences. It's possible, I suppose, that Apple's us-against-the-world attitude, so respected and admired by its fans and foes alike, has turned into something that looks more like arrogance now. I don't know. I'm just someone who wants a new Mac (and a new iPhone) once every couple of years.
Sound Publishing releases new set of mobile apps; DoApp iPhone apps feature news, weather and traffic
With the big splash Google made this week it feels good to return to the now more mundane world of mobile apps for newspapers. In an otherwise so week of mobile app releases, here is a look at six new apps from a Washington state publisher.
Sound Publishing Inc., the publishers of community newspapers around the Puget Sound area of Washington state, has released a series of free mobile apps for its Kitsap Peninsula group of newspapers -- six in all. The individual iPhone apps are for the Bremerton Patriot, Central Kitsap Reporter, Port Orchard Independent, Bainbridge Island Review, Kingson Community News, and the North Kitsap Herald.
The developer is DoApp, Inc., a company which earlier this week announced a deal with Times-Shamrock Communications, publisher of the Scranton Times-Tribune.
Each of the new apps feature news, traffic information through Google maps, and weather. One feature I have not seen before is an agreement page as seen below.
(It should be noted that the app asks if you would agree to allow the app access to your location information -- this is necessary to deliver relevant weather information, etc. I clicked no, otherwise the app would have displayed by Illinois location in the screenshots. This may also be why the weather screenshot says it was 29 degrees outside. That's my fault, not the apps.)
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FTC gives nod to Google's acquisition of AdMob
What a week of Google, huh? The search giant rolls out a new version of its Android platform, as well as introduces its Google TV platform with powerful partners like Sony and Best Buy at its developer conference. And now the FTC announces that it won't be standing in the way of Googles ability to close its acquisition of AdMob.
And who should credit for Google getting approval? Apple.
The commission voted 5-0 to close its investigation into possible anti-trust issues, saying in a release that "although the combination of the two leading mobile advertising networks raised serious antitrust issues, the agency’s concerns ultimately were overshadowed by recent developments in the market, most notably a move by Apple Computer Inc. – the maker of the iPhone – to launch its own, competing mobile ad network."
Apple had been in negotiations to acquire AdMob itself when the firm abruptly announced it was being purchased by Google. The circumstances around the change have always been murky with some stating that Google 'snatched" AdMob from Apple, while other claiming that Apple let the deal slip through their hands. Eventually, Apple purchased Quattro Wireless in January. But it was most likely Apple announcement that it was introducing its iAd platform that sealed the deal for Google.
“As a result of Apple’s entry (into the market), AdMob’s success to date on the iPhone platform is unlikely to be an accurate predictor of AdMob’s competitive significance going forward, whether AdMob is owned by Google or not,” the commission said in a statement. The commission added that “Though we have determined not to take action today, the Commission will continue to monitor the mobile marketplace to ensure a competitive environment and to protect the interests of consumers.”
So now Google gets ownership of the largest and most successful mobile ad network company. It has indeed been a good week for Google.
How Google TV will potentially effect the publishing world; Android OS used allows for apps on your television
Most media reports of Google's introduction of their new TV project concentrated on the major players Google had managed to line-up, as well as the audacity of the search giant to enter so many fields at once.
But Google TV was introduced at the company's developer conference because in the end that was the audience most appropriate for the news.
The reality is that a device that allows you to more easily find the sit-coms and reality shows the networks current serve up as entertainment is hardly earth shaking. The addition of Google's browser, Chrome, is certainly news. But people have been wondering for years why Apple hasn't added this functionality to its Apple TV. Instead, Apple crippled its own product and now must watch as Google creates the kind of product many have wanted from Apple. (Though maybe this will finally free up Apple to improve its own product and line-up its own partners -- there is certainly plenty of room left of another option here.)
For publishers, the real significance of Google's announcement is that Google TV will run on the Android platform, and will, therefore, be able to run Android apps.
In the story that appeared in the New York Times this morning, the word that app will be able to be run on Google TV was almost a throw-away line.
"Devices running Google TV will also be able to run applications written for Android phones and will feature Google’s Chrome Web browser," the Times story read.
But as Apple found out with its iPhone, the introduction of third party apps was the game-changer -- the thing that turned a cool new smart phone into a major new and profitable business. Apps are where its at in modern computing -- and publishing.
For television manufacturers like Sony, marrying up their products with Google was a no-brainer -- frankly, they had no choice. Television sets, like it or not, are simply giant displays and those inputs in the back were no barrier to connecting laptops and other devices to the screens to make them act like computer monitors. (Microsoft has been using the ability of Windows 7 to stream content as a major sales point.)
With customers now streaming Netflix movies to their computers, iPads and even mobile phones, the next logical move would be to stream them to the devices already in the family room. For Netflix, the days of mailing CDs is almost over.
So what else will people view on that 42 inch HD screen sitting in the family room? Why not the products of newspaper and magazine publishers?
Since Google TV will be able to run mobile apps, the next step will simply be to either optimize those apps made for smaller screens, or better yet, create new apps that are new "networks" all based on your print or web brands.
For the big four networks, this is Armaggedon. Competing against all those cable channels has proven hard enough, but competing against thousands of app "channels" may be the final blow. And don't you think Google believes this is a way to enter the television advertising market?
There will be lots of hurdles to overcome before we get there. For instance, if you create an app loaded with video (logical) will the TV set with Google TV, or the Logitech companion box, have hard disk space to store that app? In the future, will we be comparing one television set against another the same way we compare laptops: hard disk space, speed of the process, and the like.
Unlike the iPhone OS which currently allows developers to create apps for the iPhone, and now the bigger screened iPad, the Android platform is still stuck in three inch screen smart phones. But by the end of the year we will likely begin to see Android-based tablets (won't we?), and then the jump to larger displays won't seem like such a leap.
YouTube video from phandroid.com demonstrating the use of a
mobile phone as a remote for Logitech's Google TV companion box.
