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Google's Chrome OS: Will you give up desktop apps?
Google revealed a bevy of noteworthy developments for its Chrome OS. However, the success or failure of the Chrome OS will ride on whether users will give up desktop applications.... Continued »
Category: Facebook
October 26th, 2009
Facebook upgrades its Share button, beefs up analytics offerings
Facebook has revised its Share button on Web sites, incorporating in a counter, and is also enhancing its offering of analytics data, giving Web site operators more information about how Facebook users interact with their sites.
In a post on its developer’s blog, the company notes that users share more than 2 billion pieces of content every week and that most of it is done through the Facebook Share button on Web pages. The counter displays how many times the URL has been shared on Facebook but the analytics allow the site administrators to see how often users shared the link, “liked” the shared story, posted a comment about it on Facebook and click back to the Web site from the shared story.
As a tech journalist, I tend to share a lot of my own posts, as well as a number of interesting news stories I’ve discovered, with my Facebook friends. And, seeing how I often get some comment from friends, I can see where this sort of data could be useful to a site operator.
As a Facebook user, I have had some reservations about how much of my “Facebooking” information is being sold to third parties, especially since I sometimes share personal things with friends that I wouldn’t necessarily shout from rooftops. But I also understand that Facebook needs to find ways to convert the valuable data points into a business strategy that will help the site grow and prosper for the long-term.
This is a good example of what could work for Facebook. These sort of data points provide great insight for the web site administrators and doesn’t really step into that uncomfortable zone of details that makes users worry about their privacy.
October 23rd, 2009
Facebook settlement: Kill Beacon, pay $9.5 million into fund to promote online privacy
A class action suit over Facebook’s controversial Beacon program today received preliminary approval (PDF) by a U.S. District Court, bringing an end to the Beacon service and giving the company an option of clearing the matter without long - and expensive - court proceedings.
The proposal calls for Facebook to discontinue the Beacon program and cough up $9.5 million to set-up a non-profit foundation that “will fund projects and initiatives that promote the cause of online privacy, safety and security.”
Beacon, you may recall, was launched back in November 2007 and was designed to allow users to share information with their Facebook friends about the things they were doing on third-party, affiliated sites, including Blockbuster, Fandango, Hotwire, Overstock and Zappos.
At issue was the way Facebook rolled out the service as one that automatically included everyone, instead of an opt-in route where people could enroll if they wanted to. For weeks, users grumbled and eventually the service was switched to an opt-in - and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologized for the way Beacon was handled.
The class action settlement affects people who were Facebook members between November 7, 2007 and September 2009 and visited a “Facebook-affiliated website that was participating in Facebook’s Beacon program.” Parties can choose to do nothing, which means they give up their rights to sue Facebook and the others over this matter later. Parties can also opt-out of the settlement, object to it or attend the settlement hearing.
The settlement is not one where class action members will receive compensation. The legal notice of the proposed settlement will be published in newspapers, as required, but also through Facebook updates, according to court documents.
October 21st, 2009
Twitter CEO: Why he turned down Facebook
At the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco, Twitter CEO Evan Williams explains to Federated Media CEO John Battelle his rationale for turning down Facebook in October of 2008. He says, “he didn’t see a reason to sell…the point is really what we can build.”
September 22nd, 2009
Nielsen, Facebook forge alliance: Social networking as consumer attitude tracker
Nielsen and Facebook said Tuesday that they have forged a strategic alliance to use the social networking site as a research tool to gauge consumer attitudes and buying intentions.
Under the multi-year alliance the two will collaborate on products for marketers designed to get a read on consumer attitudes (statement). The first effort is something called Nielsen BrandLift, a tool to gauge advertising effectiveness on Facebook. The Nielsen effort comes after Facebook shelved its Beacon tracking effort.
The plan is to roll out BrandLift to a few marketers and then to all Facebook advertisers in coming months. BrandLift users opt-in polls on the Facebook homepage to read consumer attitudes.
What are the benefits?
- Nielsen gets a fun data set to analyze.
- Facebook can use Nielsen’s data crunching expertise to improve ad effectiveness.
- And you get to part of that social media/consumer attitude data set.
Let’s face it you’re not getting much out of the deal. But Nielsen must be salivating over analyzing Facebook’s 300 million users. In fact, this deal may illustrate the future business for Facebook. Advertising will certainly play a part in Facebook’s future, but the data and insights may become much more important. Ditto for Twitter.
September 15th, 2009
Facebook: "We're cash-flow positive"
Buried in the fourth paragraph of a blog post from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg today was the news that really mattered - the company is making money. In that post, Zuckerberg writes:
We’re also succeeding at building Facebook in a sustainable way. Earlier this year, we said we expected to be cash flow positive sometime in 2010, and I’m pleased to share that we achieved this milestone last quarter. This is important to us because it sets Facebook up to be a strong independent service for the long term.
Buried in a blog post or not, that’s good news for the company to put out there as it maintains its momentum of growth in membership and in offerings. The company recently announced a milestone of 65 million mobile users and said that, among those mobile users, active usage on the site doubles.
Today, in its big headline, it said it surpassed the 300 million subscriber mark and that will “continue building new and better things to make connecting with the people you care about as easy and rewarding as possible.”
September 9th, 2009
Salesforce rolling out a beefier Service Cloud
Salesforce on Wednesday will announce an upgrade to the Service Cloud offering it unveiled back in January, incorporating enhancements to its social networking tools and announcing plans for the rollout of a Knowledge-as-a-Service offering and crowd-sourcing Answers product.
The company boasts that it has been growing at a time when many other companies are downsizing and they attribute it to the demand for cloud services that allow business customers to do more with less.
The two main offerings on the social media front - integration with Twitter and Facebook - are piggybacking off what other companies are doing to connect with customers who are talking about their products or brand names in social networking circles. But building them into the salesforce tools is smart because it allows the companies to mash data to resolve problems faster.
The Knowledge-as-a-service offering is interesting because it allows users to take the customer and support data - whether it be information from a service call or a quick fix tweeted by a customer - and incorporate it into the company’s knowledge base. From there, customers can upload the info into the public domain so other customers who might have the same issues with a product can find the answers from a trusted source, the company.
A final offering, Salesforce Answers, will allow customers to tap into the crowd of the Internet, posing questions over the Web or within Facebook to solicit the “knowledge of the crowd” for use to solve problems faster and more efficiently.
Salesforce’s social offerings will be available immediately while Knowledge-as-a-Service will be available later this year. Salesforce Answers will release early next year.
Previous coverage: Salesforce announces Twitter app; further validates power of cloud
Salesforce partners with Facebook, Amazon to spark more app development
September 3rd, 2009
Facebook Mobile: Now 65 million strong
Facebook posted a blog entry today, highlighting a milestone of 65 million people now actively using the social networking service on their mobile devices. Eight months ago, there were only 20 million people using the mobile service.
The company also said today that users will start to see Facebook Connect on some mobile sites and apps, just like the Web. From the blog:
Facebook Connect makes it easier for you to take your online identity with you all over the Web, share what you do online with your friends and stay updated on what they’re doing. Soon, you’ll see prompts for Facebook Connect on mobile sites and applications and have the opportunity to take your Facebook profile information, friends and privacy preferences to your favorite mobile applications, as well.
Facebook, in my opinion, is one the sites that has really done a good job bringing as much of the desktop experience to the mobile platform without too much compromise. I’ve used it on a Palm Pre, an Android device, an iPhone/iPod Touch and, of course, the Blackberry. By far, the iPhone has the best looking app and the latest version, which was released recently, proves that Facebook is committed to enhancing the overall mobile experience.
It’s also worth noting that Facebook has recognized that its users - even those without a smartphone - want some sort of mobile experience. In those cases, there are wap versions that run via the phone’s browser, as well as SMS features that allow users to post update status messages, search for friends, post something on a wall and send a message.
September 2nd, 2009
NFL forbids play-by-play tweets during games. Good luck with that
The best NFL matchup this season may not be on the field itself but rather in the press box, where sports journalists are now being told that tweeting details of the game, during the game, is a no-no.
It’s one thing for the NFL to impose restrictions around social media for players, coaches and even player agents. But the media? Come on, now. Let’s be realistic about this. The NFL isn’t going to be able to stop the tweeting or Facebook-updating of play-by-play coverage of the games. The NFL issued the following statement, according to a CNET report:
Longstanding policies prohibiting play-by-play descriptions of NFL games in progress apply fully to Twitter and other social media platforms. Internet sites may not post detailed information that approximates play-by-play during a game. While a game is in progress, any forms of accounts of the game must be sufficiently time-delayed and limited in amount (e.g., score updates with detail given only in quarterly game updates) so that the accredited organization’s game coverage cannot be used as a substitute for, or otherwise approximate, authorized play-by-play accounts.
Did you catch the key phrase in the statement? “Internet sites may not post detailed information…” The way I read it the NFL wants the burden of policing tweets for football plays to fall on the shoulders of Twitter, the company.
Talk about unrealistic.
For what it’s worth, I’m a big football fan and even pay extra every season for the NFL Sunday Ticket on DirecTV, just so I can watch any game I want (except for locally blacked-out games - but that’s post for another type of blog.) But I’m also frustrated with the tight-grip of control that the league maintains over everything NFL.
You see, the NFL wants you to come to the stadiums to watch the games - and there’s nothing wrong with that. But to do so, the league controls not only how you get to watch the game but also which games you get to watch. The deals with the TV networks are big business. Only certain radio stations - as well as satellite radio - are authorized to not only broadcast games but also offer live commentary. And now, we know that policies around social media exist, too.
Here’s my message to the NFL: The best of them - newspapers, record labels and movie studios, just to name a few - have tried their best to stifle technology in hopes of maintaining control of their cash cow business models. All have largely failed.
Why? Because technology has gone mainstream. It isn’t the sports writers that the NFL needs to worry about when it comes to play-by-play tweets. They need to worry about the fans in the stands with Twitter apps on their smartphones. They need to worry about the TV viewers who are sharing details of the games with friends who can’t see it (maybe because of the stupid blackout rule.)
That’s a lot of people to watch, a lot of tweet-policing to manage and, eventually, a lot of enforcement that they’ll need.
Better call the lawyers.
August 29th, 2009
Facebook: the twenty-to-one rule
I just read yet another media article, this time in the WSJ, on the downsides of using social media tools such as Facebook. While the theme of this article is spot-on, it’s merely journalistic negativity to bash a new way of doing things.Â
Facebook is a great tool because you control how you use it. Yes, it’s rude not to accept a friend-request from a colleague, but you can do so in a way that they will never see your updates and you can choose not to see theirs’. They are essentially becoming an addition to your contact database where you can view their contacts too.
And if you find my status updates irritating, then turn off my updates, or de-friend me. I don’t want you… if you don’t want me.  For every 20 great interactions I have, one person may get annoyed, or I may get annoyed by someone else. That person can then remove my updates, of I can remove theirs’, so that ratio now moves to thirty-to-one, and so on. Yes, Facebook newbies may be over-excited with their initial interactions, but they will quickly learn the etiquette of how to manage their social network. And if they don’t, then ease them out of your inner circle.
I love Facebook because, unlike Twitter, I control my environment. I choose who’s in there and I can develop mindless relationships with people I like (or just find amusing). My job is so busy, so intense, that the few minutes a day spent reading about what people have for lunch, what they think of Delta, or the severity of their hangover, is a pleasant relief after hours of discussing cost-containment measures with some finance director…Â
I now have friends I would never have had if it wasn’t for this silly application. True, nothing beats a pie-and-a-pint, but you can only do that with people in your home town. What’s more, I don’t always have time to pick up the phone to interact, and I certainly don’t have a lot of time for pies and pints these days. But a few seconds to type mindless banter with friendly folks? Works for me everytime…
August 17th, 2009
MySpace to acquire social music service iLike for $20 million
News Corp.-owned social networking site MySpace is expected to close a deal to acquire social music service iLike this week, according to reports.
The deal, as detailed by TechCrunch (techmeme), will be the company’s first acquisition since chief executive Owen Van Natta took reins of the company in April 2009.
The price is “around $20 million,” a source told TechCrunch.
August 14th, 2009
Why I'm suspicious of the Facebook 'RockMelt' browser
In the 21st century, the main portal to your life besides the front door to your home is the window of your Web browser.
That’s why the competition between Microsoft and Mozilla and Apple and Google (and Opera and…) is so intense and so important. If the Internet has defined how you experience computers and the world, the vehicle in which you do it becomes vitally significant.
On Thursday, Netscape founder and Silicon Valley entrepreneur Marc Andreessen declared his backing of startup RockMelt, which is building a new, “different” Internet browser that intends to pair with social networking giant Facebook to extend the “real identity” aspect of that company to Web browsing.
August 11th, 2009
FriendFeed should have been part of Facebook from Day One
True confessions time: I created a FriendFeed account some time back but never really used it. I was already deeply entrenched in Facebook by then and was starting to see some value in Twitter - so I jumped into FriendFeed and created an acccount.
That’s as far as I got.
Also see: Facebook to acquire FriendFeed
You see, FriendFeed was always so similar to Facebook that it kind of seemed a waste of my time to tap into two services to share the same details of my life with the same groups of people. Twitter, for me, had me interacting with strangers who were following me - so the idea of sharing a link to an interesting NYT story on Twitter was OK while sharing the details of my weekend adventure just felt creepy. Instead, those details were left for the group of people on Facebook that I’d already welcomed into my circle.
That’s not to say that FriendFeed wasn’t a smart service. Just take a look at how entrenched my colleague Andrew Mager is in the service.
For me, though, it just felt so much like Facebook that… well, you know. In fact, in a brief interview with FriendFeed co-founder Paul Buchheit this afternoon, he joked that within a few weeks after the company launched in 2007, the FriendFeed folks and Facebook folks would bump into each other around Silicon Valley and had this ongoing joke about FriendFeed becoming part of Facebook.
The companies are located in neighboring towns in Silicon Valley - Facebook in Palo Alto and FriendFeed in Mountain View, home to the Google campus where the FriendFeed founders came from.
You see, when the dust settles on all of these “Facebook buys FriendFeed” blog posts - mine included - we’ll see that this was less about the FriendFeed service and more about the FriendFeed brain power.
I’m told that the team - all 12 of them - will start working for Facebook immediately, as in tomorrow, and move over to those Palo Alto offices. As for the FriendFeed service, the word is that there will be no immediate changes - and the company went so far as to tell CNET that “we absolutely wouldn’t shut (FriendFeed) down” - but I suspect we’ll see FriendFeed wrapped into Facebook sooner than you think.
After that, I suppose, I won’t have to feel guilty about being friendless on FriendFeed.
August 10th, 2009
Facebook opens new search feature to membership
Facebook said today that it has opened a search feature that’s been under test to the full community.
What that means basically is that users can go back in time and search for key terms - maybe a news event or some other item that would have been referenced by other Facebook members - to find those older posts quickly. Want to know what your friends were saying when they learned about Michael Jackson’s death? What about the chatter when Facebook said - in an announcement earlier today - that it was acquiring FriendFeed?
In a blog post announcing the new feature, the company said:
You now will be able to search the last 30 days of your News Feed for status updates, photos, links, videos and notes being shared by your friends and the Facebook Pages of which you’re a fan. If people have chosen to make their content available to everyone, you also will be able to search for their status updates, links and notes, regardless of whether or not you are friends. Search results will continue to include people’s profiles as well as relevant Facebook Pages, groups and applications.
The company began its tests of search about a month ago with a small group of users. Today, the service is available to everyone.
August 10th, 2009
Facebook to acquire FriendFeed
Facebook said today that it will acquire FriendFeed for an undisclosed amount. As part of the agreement, all 12 employees will join Facebook and the company’s founders will take on senior roles in Facebook’s engineering and product teams. (Techmeme)
In a statement, FriendFeed co-founder Paul Buchheit said:
As we spent time with Mark (Zuckerberg) and his leadership team, we were impressed by the open, creative culture they’ve built and their desire to have us contribute to it. It was immediately obvious to us how passionate Facebook’s engineers are about creating simple, ground-breaking ways for people to share, and we are extremely excited to join such a like-minded group.
In a post on the FriendFeed blog, the company said that the FriendFeed site and service will continue to operate normally and that longer-term plans for the product as part of Facebook are still being figured out. Likewise, the company said the FriendFeed API will also continue to operate normally.
It shouldn’t come as a major surprise that these two companies would join forces. After all, there’s a lot of overlap between the two, though FriendFeed is one-up on Facebook with the real-time updates, compared to the Facebook updates that need to be refreshed. And really, how many friend update services do we really need?
In the end, it seems like Facebook gains some cool features but, more importantly, a great engineering team that has its roots in Google and some of that company’s most popular features, including Gmail and Google Maps.
August 10th, 2009
Watch what you send, post, tweet about your company; The boss may be watching
It probably goes without saying that you should be careful about what you send in e-mail, post on Facebook or write in a tweet. It could get you into hot water with the boss or, worse yet, sent straight to the unemployment line.
Case in point: the story working its way through the blogosphere this morning about the gal who forgot that she friended her boss and then publicly shared what she thought of him and the job - only to find herself publicly terminated in the comments section of her status update.
Ouch.
If you think no one is monitoring what you say, think again. According to a survey released today by e-mail security firm Proofpoint, 33 percent of U.S. companies with more than 1,000 employees have people on staff whose primary or exclusive job is to read or otherwise analyze outgoing e-mail messages. That’s up from 15 percent a year ago.
In all, 43 percent said they had investigated a breach of company information via email over the past year. Of those, 31 percent said they had terminated an employee because an e-mail breach, up from 26 percent a year ago.
But, wait. It gets better. Among the the highlights (PDF) of the report:
- 18 percent investigated the exposure of confidential company information via video or audio posted to a site such as YouTube. Eight percent said they had terminated employees for such a violation.
- 17 percent investigated leaks of company information posted on social networking sites such as Facebook. Eight percent said they had fired someone for the leak.
- 18 percent looked into leaks coming from a blog, with 9 percent reporting an employee termination for the offense.
The 6th survey by Proofpoint, a company in the business of securing e-mail and reducing leaks with its products, was conducted based on interviews with e-mail decision makers at U.S. companies.
In addition, the survey found that 22 percent of the companies surveyed investigated leaks via lost or stolen mobile devices in the last year but that more than half (51 percent) are “highly concerned” about leaks via mobile devices. Also, 13 percent looked into leaks sent via SMS text or a tweet on Twitter. 41 percent said they are “highly concerned” about the risk of information leaks via Twitter.
A free copy of the full report is available from Proofpoint.
August 6th, 2009
Doing business on Facebook: What are the risks? [video]
At the Always On Summit at Stanford University, business executives discuss the business risks involved in developing applications and businesses on social networks with proprietary platforms. Panelists include Gerry Campbell, CEO of Collecta; Max Ventilla, CEO of Aardvark; Shervin Pishevar, CEO of Social Gaming Network; and moderator Bambi Francisco, CEO of Vator.tv.
August 4th, 2009
Marines block social networks, concerned about security
A few years ago, the U.S. Department of Defense blocked troops in overseas combat areas from accessing sites like MySpace and YouTube, citing concerns about the increased use of the sites and the potential to overwhelm the military’s private network or compromise combat-sensitive material on the network.
Image Credit: USMC, via Wired
Almost immediately, the government was criticized for preventing homesick troops from being able to stay in touch with friends and loved ones via the sites - and the government subsequently did a bit of back-pedaling on its decision.
Now, the military - specifically the U.S. Marine Corps - is at it again. Effective immediately, the Marines are blocking access to Twitter, Facebook, MySpace for at least one year. According to a Wired report, the order from the Marines read (see full memo):
These internet sites in general are a proven haven for malicious actors and content and are particularly high risk due to information exposure, user generated content and targeting by adversaries. The very nature of SNS [social network sites] creates a larger attack and exploitation window, exposes unnecessary information to adversaries and provides an easy conduit for information leakage that puts OPSEC [operational security], COMSEC [communications security], [and] personnel… at an elevated risk of compromise.
It’s hard to argue that point - especially since scams and spam seem to be on the rise within the social networking worlds. But the Wired piece also goes on to note that even the military itself has a large presence on social networking sites.
- The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has 4,000 Twitter followers.
- The Defense Department’s soon-to-be-unveiled home page will include social media tools.
- The Army recently ordered all U.S. bases to provide access to Facebook.
- Top generals blog from the battlefield.
In fact, Price Floyd, the Pentagon’s newly-appointed social media czar, told Wired that the military can’t “let security concerns trump doing business.” The military, as part of its outreach, needs to be where the people are - and these days, that includes social networking sites.
I can understand why branches of the military might be concerned. But I think there’s also a fine line to walk in allowing the troops access to these sites as means of staying in touch with loved ones, a morale booster.
What are your thoughts? Have the Marines gone too far with a full-scale ban? Or is the government right to be concerned about the possible over-exposure that comes with allowing these sites on the military networks?
July 21st, 2009
Facebook at work: 'Social Notworking'?
I see you out there during the day - posting Facebook photos, writing on your friends’ walls, uploading lists of 25 things I really don’t care to know about you. But hey, aren’t you supposed to be working during the day?
A report issued today by Nucleus Research found that nearly half of office employees access Facebook during work and that companies are losing an average of 1.5 percent of total office productivity because of it. (Report PDF)
Sure, companies have been embracing social networking tools such as Facebook and Twitter as a means of advertising, marketing and generally engaging in the online conversations about the company and its products. The research found that 77 percent of office workers have a Facebook account and that, of those, nearly two-thirds access Facebook during work hours.
But only 13 percent of those folks are actually using Facebook during work hours to conduct work business. In fact, 87 percent of the survey’s respondents couldn’t define a business reason for using it. Better yet, six percent said they only access Facebook from the office.
Should companies be concerned? The research isn’t suggesting that companies pull the plug on Facebook usage at the office but did warn that they should watch out for red flags, such as lost productivity, and should consider being a bit big brother about it.
Need another reason? Consider this excerpt from the report:
Beyond its impact on productivity, Nucleus also noted the growing use of Facebook as an alternative e-mail platform. Although not necessarily bad, Facebook isn’t monitored and managed by an organization like e-mail is. Savvy younger users recognize that traditional e-mail and even personal accounts like gmail can be monitored by corporate IT, while Facebook messages aren’t. For organizations that have invested in security software to secure sensitive information and limit their transmission via e-mail, Facebook can help users circumvent those controls, opening up the potential to violate corporate communication policies.
That’s something to think about.
July 20th, 2009
Yahoo's new home page: Spending more time in your world
Be on the lookout for a new Yahoo tomorrow - a re-designed home page that that will offer the best of “My World” and “The World” on a single page.
Yahoo has been looking to up its game as a Web property by increasing the number of people on the site and the amount of time they spend on the site - a key to a strong advertising business, right? To do so, they have to give users a reason to hang out on the page and not click away. With the re-design of the left-column of the page - re-named My Favorites - Yahoo is heading in that direction.
The cool thing about this column is that it’s less about Yahoo’s other properties - the way it is today - and more about an individual user’s Web hangouts. Need to check your Gmail inbox? You can do that from My Favorites. Want to see what’s happening in your Facebook world? There it is. Looking for headlines from your favorite blog or news site? They can be added to that column, too.
That customizable column is basically using RSS technology to customize but, as the company pointed out, everyday users don’t want to deal with subscribing to RSS feeds. Adding an app to a home page for a quick peek is more appealing - even if it’s basically the same thing.
It’s here on the home page where a user’s two worlds - My World and The World - meet. Users are interested in different things - from sports headlines and financial news to events happening overseas or even in our own neighborhoods. By blending all of those access points into one location, the need to go elsewhere for that information diminishes.
Of course, if you don’t see what you’re looking for, there’s a search box on the page to help query the Web for it. And, if you’re really looking for something specific, watch out for a relevant ad to help steer your decision. There appears to be opportunities throughout the page - particularly within the apps in the My Favorites column - for some targeted advertising.
The company plans to also roll out the mobile edition this week, offering synchronization with the web-based version so that users don’t have to do double the work to customize the page.
Still, as bullish as Yahoo has been about the new home page, it was less than enthusiastic about sharing details during a pre-briefing this week on how this new page will contribute to the company’s financial performance, specifically the impact on revenue growth. After all, the new look of the home page has been one of the improvements highlighted by CEO Carol Bartz as being part of the new Yahoo, the one she’s been running since January.
Google has said repeatedly, in defending its launch of non-revenue generating apps, that it’s good for Google when people spend more time on the Web - meaning they’re exposed to advertising longer. The same could be said about Yahoo’s new push to bring everything that’s important to you - from your inbox messages to your tweets to your headlines - to a single page.
The new page will be rolled out to users in the U.S. starting tomorrow afternoon and to users in the U.K. India and France by the end of the week. Users in Mexico and other European countries will see a rollout next month and those in Asia will see the new page next year.
Separately, the company said it will begin testing a revamped search page next month but offered few details beyond that, which was to be expected given the blog buzz about a widely-expected search deal between Yahoo and Microsoft and the fact that both companies report quarterly earnings this week.
Yahoo reports earnings tomorrow afternoon. Microsoft reports on Thursday.
July 15th, 2009
Hands on: Verizon FiOS TV launches 'Widget Bazaar': Adds Twitter, Facebook, online video
Verizon on Wednesday rolled out a Widget Bazaar on its FiOS TV service adding Facebook, Twitter, ESPN and Internet video services. And although I’ve been a big doubter of the interactive TV thing this could be handy.
Verizon is planning to make FiOS TV an development platform for additional widgets, but so far it has Facebook, Twitter, ESPN, Veoh, blip.tv and Dailymotion. The video downloads are available to DVR subscribers on FiOS TV. The effort is being portrayed as Verizon’s way to differentiate its FiOS from cable.
Also see: Gallery: Verizon FIOS opens Widget Bazaar with Facebook, Twitter
Since I have Verizon FiOS I took Facebook and Twitter for a spin. First, there are two quibbles: You need parental controls (small hassle) and the second is that the only status updates focus on what you’re are watching. It would be better if you could do live commentary from the TV on what you’re watching. Nevertheless, I found the widgets to be something I’d come back to.
But the real killer app for me will be fantasy football so the Widget Bazaar is likely to get a heavier workout in the fall. For now here’s a quick tour.
Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and Editorial Director of ZDNet sister site TechRepublic. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
For daily updates, follow Larry on Twitter.
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