It’s well known that News Corp. has been unhappy about the success
of YouTube, even well before it was acquired by Google. Execs from the
company have often claimed that the video sharing site’s growth was
based on a free ride given to it by MySpace, as the social network’s
millions of users embedded YouTube videos onto their profiles, arguably
driving lots of traffic back to YouTube. Having missed the opportunity
to buy the video sharing site themselves, MySpace introduced its own
video functionality, which — though badly implemented (which is
becoming typical of new features added to the site e.g. MySpace News), hasn’t been unsuccessful, and according to Hitwise, is currently ranked number two.

However, second place represents 16% compared with YouTube’s 60% —
meaning that the Google-owned video sharing site is way out ahead of
the rest of the competition put together.

Enter: MySpaceTV, a MySpace video sharing feature done right. (Or a near-perfect YouTube clone).

My first reaction was: what took them so long?

Will the redesign help MySpace to make up ground on YouTube? Yes, no
doubt in my mind. My reasoning is based on the success of version 1,
which was pretty dreadful but still was able to get into second place —
proof of the value in having millions of users already loyal to the
site. Now that MySpace’s video section has a user interface that is
actually usable and one that will be familiar with users because of its
YouTube lineage — I think we’ll see MySpaceTV increase its share beyond
16%, and probably fairly quickly.

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MySpace « YouTube « 

Technorati Tags: google, free, news, social network, myspace, sharing, youtube

HotHardware has access to some Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 samples and put them to the test.  The results mean more bad news for the folks at AMD.

E6750 running at stock speeds is barely distinguishable from the E6700
The E6750 is basically a E6700 processor that runs on a 1333MHz
Front Side Bus.  This increase in FSB speed from 1066MHz means the CPU
gets a performance boost of about 5%.  Not bad but nothing to get
excited about.

What is exciting is the overclocking potential of this CPU.  The
HotHardware team got it to run at 3.92GHz using the stock Intel
air-cooler.  Even while overclocked the CPU temperature didn’t go
beyond 48°C/118°F.  Admittedly, this was an open-air bench test so
results might vary when it’s locked up inside a PC case.

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In their expanding network of blogs, Google launched their public policy blog
today — complete with posts dating back to April 10 of this year. The
blog will focus on important issues that matter to Google and the
people that use it such as privacy, child online safety, copyright and
trademark protection, content regulation, reform of the patent system,
and broadband policy.

We hope this blog will serve as a resource for
policymakers around the world — including legislators, ministers,
governors, city councilmembers, regulators, and the staffers who
support them — who are trying to enact sound government policies to
foster free expression, promote economic growth, expand access to
information, enable innovation, and protect consumers. We also hope
(cliché alert) that this blog will promote real conversation, so we’ve
enabled comments

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Google « 

Technorati Tags: google, free, blog

Netscape has released a new version of its web browser, which sees
the software include a number of social features which tie directly
into the company’s recently redesigned news portal. Dubbed ‘Navigator‘
(a return to its roots name-wise), the browser is, under the hood, a
re-branded version of Firefox, but with some significant bolted on
functionality for seamless integration with Netscape.com.
First
up, users can submit links and vote for stories on Netscape’s Digg-like
social news site, right from within the browser. When browsing the web,
‘Navigator’ will check with Netscape.com to see if the page you’re on
has already been submitted. If it has, you’ll be offered the vote
button, as well as being able to access any comments. Alternatively,
you can choose to submit the story yourself, which involves
highlighting any text on the page that might make a good summary, and
clicking ’share’.

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MySpace has hinted at a potential partnership with eBay, in a bid to
offer e-commerce services to its millions of users. In an article in
the Telegraph newspaper, MySpace founder Chris DeWolfe is quoted as
saying:

“If you’re on your site and you have a line of T-shirts
you have designed and you want to sell them to your friends, we want to
be able to provide you with the tools you need to do that.”

DeWolfe then goes onto suggest that eBay would make the perfect
partner: “We haven’t decided yet, but it would be probably a good bet…”.

However, as The Register notes,
any deal between the two companies would involve eBay having to share a
big chunk of its MySpace-driven revenue with the News Corp-owned social
networking site. But despite this concession, a MySpace partnership
would represent a huge shot in the arm for eBays pending battle with
Google. Forcing MySpace’s gigantic userbase to use eBay-owned PayPal as
their means of exchanging money, rather the new kid on the block in
Google Chekout, would further extend eBay’s dominance of e-commerce.
Right now, eBay users are forced to use PayPal rather than Checkout,
and partnering with MySpace extends that monopolistic strategy.

Of course, Google has a war chest so large that with regards to any
of its products — including Checkout — it can afford to be in it for
the long term.

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Novell today announced Open Workgroup, a basic Linux set-up for small-to-medium businesses.

In doing this Novell also revealed Microsoft’s open source strategy.

It’s a defensive game. Microsoft has channels covering all areas of
the market. Now, when those channels need an open source solution,
there’s something they can point to.

While it’s amusing to read “Novell  is gunning for a chunk of office market share from Microsoft” that’s not really the case. Through its November deal with Microsoft, Novell became part of the Microsoft “keiretsu.” 

It’s a Japanese word, and it means a collection of companies with
interlocking business relationships. The Microsoft keiretsu is more
informal than Japan’s Mitsubishi, or Korean chaebol such as LG. Microsoft does not own Novell, nor does it own Linspire.  

But in signing deals with Microsoft, acknowledging its (bogus)
patent claims, these companies (and others) enter into Microsoft’s
orbit. They choose sides. They agree, through their Microsoft contract,
that in the case of patents 2+2=5.

The same thing happens to the many, many firms which tie themselves
to IBM, or to any other large vendor. (Absent the falsehood.) There’s
nothing illegal going on here, nothing unethical, not even anything bad
per-se.

But as I’ve said here many times, this is now a political battle. I hope the folks at the Linux Foundation’s Collaboration Summit, meeting this weekend at Google’s headquarters, understand this. 

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Each time I look at something related to the iPhone, I keep coming
back to one aspect of the device I don’t like - the onscreen keyboard. 
As much as I think that the glass-topped software-powered keyboard on
the iPhone looks cool, I keep coming back the one thing that’s
important about a keyboard to me - usability.  Do
I think that the iPhone’s keyboard is going to be an efficient input
device?  No.  Is this going to mean that Apple is going to have a hard
time selling iPhones?  Probably not.

Selling someone their first iPhone is going to be easier than selling them an upgrade in a couple of yearsFor
me, the main point of a keyboard is to allow me to input data quickly
and efficiently.  I don’t like the idea of screwing around with a
critical input device just for the sake of simplification and making it
cool.  The trade-off just isn’t worth it.  You can have the best,
coolest, most fully-featured device in the world, but if you can’t get
information into it, it’s really nothing more than a fancy
paperweight.  For me, any company that claims to have come up with a
new, innovative, easy to use keyboard on the first attempt makes me
wary.  When I need to pay $500+ and sign-up to a 2 year contract to
discover just how easy to use that revolutionary new system is, it’s a
total deal-breaker.  Pass, I’ll wait and see what the next version has
to offer.  That’s why I can still be excited about the technology
crammed into the iPhone and yet at the same time give it a wide berth.

But will the lack of a usable keyboard on the iPhone cripple Apple’s
dream gadget?  No, it won’t.  Why?  Because the people who will be the
early adopters are buying a feeling they’ve been sold.  I remember the
owner of a publishing company once telling me

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s social networking really just a young persons game? Is MySpace the only social networking game? 

(see Web 2.0 ages: Poor old media?)

NO. There is a social networker in each and every one of us that
seeks emotional rewards from being connected and influential, new
research has found. 

Popular word of mouth marketing theories, however, purport that
real influence is not universal, but solely the provenance of a few
highly-connected individuals enjoying domain expertise.

Ted Smith, Research Fellow, CNET Networks (parent of ZDNet),
debunked such conventional notions of influence yesterday, unveiling
research at the Advertisng Research Foundation convention in New York
City.

In a presentation titled “Social Networking Demystified: Why
Consumers Cannot Resist Giving Advice,” Smith presented the findings
from proprietary research on the structure and dynamics of social
networks.

During the Q4 ’06 and Q1 ’07 timeframe, a multi-faceted study
engaged consumers via fieldwork, Internet surveys, one-on-one
interviews and behavioral site analysis to understand how influence
works.

With the goal of answering questions about whether there are many or
few who are highly influential, insights were gleaned on what is
assumed to be the essential ingredient of influence, personal network
size.

Study participants were asked to indicate the number of people they
interact with on a monthly basis, categorized by groups. Respondents
were then grouped by level of connectedness: Less Connected, Moderately
Connected, Highly Connected.

Results? There is a “tremendous central tendency” about the mean.
Translation: There are not two groups of people in two distinct
populations, connected or not. Instead, most individuals are in a
tightly defined range around the average.

The masses are “moderately connected,” with 42 connections, on average, the research found.

Implications? The true shape of influence can be best viewed as a “diamond,” rather than as a “pyramid.”

Focusing only on a small number of highly connected individuals at
the top of the pyramid neglects the larger, and more real, opportunity
for influence on a large scale via the bulk of the population, in the
middle of the wide diamond. 

Real-world, everyday influencers are motivated by a desire to help others, the research suggests:

People like to be needed and valued, and influencers
derive a sense of self-worth and validation from giving good advice.
They aren’t simply blasting emails to their entire address book,
influencers are taking the time to seek out and customize information
they believe will be relevant to specific individuals within their
network. When their advice is wee received, it gives them confidence to
continue and expand their efforts. 

In
addition to the personal rewards they get from providing good
information, the typical  influencer also enjoys the process of
discovery, or being “The Sleuth,” the research found.

What is “The Sleuth” in real-world mass social networking terms? Sleuths: 

aren’t experts but are savvy at finding credible information,
watch and read media with a critical eye,
rely on the Web to find and distribute critical information,
tend to send information only to individuals they know will be interested,
won’t send information unless they’re confident it’s worth sharing.

Moral of the we are all social networkers story? 

Influence is not exclusive, it is something we all share. Influence
is not a function of charisma so much as it’s a function of human
nature, 

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Technorati Tags: web, media, internet, personal, game, social network, myspace, sharing, man