Twitter Adds Ability to Include Location in Tweets

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

San Francisco
– Twitter has added a new location-based feature called Twitter Places, which
lets users tag their tweets with specific geographic locations.

The company
said the service utilizes data from TomTom and Localeze.

The service integrates
check-ins from existing location services Foursquare and Gowalla, and lets
users create new locations within Twitter Places itself.

Developers will also
be able to use an API to integrate Twitter Places into their applications.

The
company said it is rolling out Twitter Places in 65 countries over the next
week

 

Related Links:
http://blog.twitter.com/2010/06/twitter-places-more-context-for-your.html

RIM Prepping Tablet PC, Touch-Screen BlackBerry, New OS

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

New York
– Research in Motion (NASD: RIMM) is working on a new touch-screen BlackBerry smartphone,
which features a slide-out keyboard and runs a new version of the BlackBerry
operating system, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources.

The company
is also reportedly testing a "tablet device," still in early
development, that would connect to the Internet by tethering to a BlackBerry.

Sources told The Journal that the RIM tablet could be released by the end of
the year.

RIM is also working on a new, faster version of its mobile Web
browser that will enable access to more than one Web page at a time.

The Journal
notes that the company’s share of the smartphone market fell to 38% in its
first quarter, down from 54% a year ago.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/xg19s
(WSJ)

Report: 67% of U.S. Households Play Video Games

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Washington – Sixty-seven percent of U.S. households now
report playing video games, and more report playing in the company of fellow
gamers than ever before, according to a survey conducted by Ipsos MediaCT for
the Entertainment Software Association, which represents U.S. developers and
publishers.

Some 62% of U.S. gamers say they play with other gamers in person
at least one hour a week, and 48% of parents say they play video games with
their children at least once a week.

The ESA report also found that the average
game player is 34 years old, while the average age of U.S. game
buyers is 40.

Forty percent of game players are female, and 42% of Americans
are now playing games on wireless devices like smartphones.

 

Related Links:
http://theesa.com/newsroom/release_detail.asp?releaseID=99

Nielsen, McKinsey Form Social Media Intelligence Venture

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

New York – Ratings firm Nielsen announced on Tuesday that it
has partnered with global management consulting firm McKinsey & Company, on a joint venture that aims to help companies harness social media
intelligence.

NM Incite will incorporate Nielsen’s existing BuzzMetrics
platform, while McKinsey will contribute marketing and sales support, along
with organization and service operations.

The venture, which is currently
working with select pilot clients, expects in the fall to offer services with
an initial focus on improving marketing effectiveness, product launch
optimization and customer service experience.

NM Incite will be headquartered
in New York
and led by Dave Hudson, formerly executive vice president of global client
services for Nielsen’s telecom practice.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/xg0nb

http://www.nielsen.com

http://www.mckinsey.com

http://www.nmincite.com

CNET: Google Music Service Could Debut in the Fall

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

San Francisco
– Google (NASD: GOOG) is building an online music service that would provide download and
streaming options and could debut as early as this fall, CNET News.com reported,
citing "multiple music industry sources."

The company’s existing
forays into music include its music video juggernaut, YouTube, as well as the
Vevo joint venture and Music Onebox — which ties streaming options to search
results for music-related topics.

Google also recently acquired Simplify
Media, which offers cloud-based music storage, and said it would build a
similar service for its Android operating system.

 

Related Links:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-20007673-261.html

Kinect

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Microsoft Introduces Kinect, Smaller Xbox 360

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Los Angeles – Microsoft (NASD:  MSFT) introduced
its new Kinect motion-sensing video game system, along with a raft of upcoming
titles and a new, smaller Xbox 360 model on Monday at the E3 Expo video game
convention in Los Angeles. Kinect will go on sale Nov. 4 in North America
for an as-yet-unannounced price.

The system will offer 15 titles at launch, including Harmonix’s "Dance Central," while a "Star
Wars"-themed game is due in 2011.

The new Xbox 360 model, which is black
and features a 250GB hard drive, will begin selling this week for $299.

Microsoft also previewed a number of forthcoming Xbox 360 titles, including
"Metal Gear Solid: Rising," "Call of Duty: Black Ops," "Gears
of War 3,""Halo: Reach," "Fable III" and "Crytek:
Codename Kingdoms."

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/xfyyf

http://snipurl.com/xfyyp

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-21539_7-20007501-10391702.html

IBM Acquires Web Analytics, Marketing Firm Coremetrics

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Armonk, N.Y. – IBM announced on Tuesday that it will
acquire Coremetrics, a provider of Web analytics software.

Financial terms of
the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in 1999, San Mateo, Calif.-based
Coremetrics counts more than 2,100 brand clients using its online marketing services,
which include real-time personalized recommendations, email targeting, display
ad targeting across leading ad networks, and search engine bid management.

The
company has to date raised some $91 million in venture capital financing, from
backers including Accel Partners, FTV Capital, Highland Capital Partners and W
Capital Partners.

"By acquiring Coremetrics, IBM will be able to deliver
powerful new business analytics solutions, with the web analytics capabilities
clients need to help measure the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns and
understand the shopping habits, likes and dislikes of their customers,"
the company said.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/xfy49

http://www.coremetrics.com

Social Marketer Context Optional Acquires Buzzeo

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

San Francisco
– Context Optional, a provider of social marketing services, announced on
Tuesday that it has acquired Unwrap, the makers of Buzzeo — a platform for
Facebook application creation, management and deployment.

Financial terms of
the transaction were not disclosed.

Buzzeo counts more than 175,000 accounts,
and has seen applications developed using its platform installed by over 41
million Facebook users.

San Francisco-based Context Optional said that Buzzeo’s
app platform complements its own product that integrate publishing, moderation,
analytics and app-building into a single tool.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/xfxya

http://www.getbuzzeo.com/

Machinima.com Raises $9 Million for Video Game Movies

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Los Angeles
– Machinima.com, a producer of video game-based animated films, has raised $9
million in new funding, led by Redpoint Ventures.

Founded in 2000,
Machinima.com is currently producing 25 original Web video series, and counted
127 million video views in May across 27 million monthly unique visitors.

Its
videos have a collected 1.5 billion views on YouTube.

The company will use the
new funds to ramp up its mareting activities.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/xfxrr
(VentureBeat)

http://www.machinima.com

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