Stephen Fry and the new kings of Twitter

November 17th, 2009 2:03pm

Stephen Fry was crowned “King of Twitter” at this morning’s 140 Conference, a London seminar about the “state of now” organised by entrepreneur Jeff Pulver.

Mr Fry used a large part of his time on stage at the O2 to defend twittering celebrities such as himself and attack “deadwood” newspapers. For Mr Fry, who has over 1m followers on the messaging site, the former is the solution to the failings of the latter.

“I know how much contempt the world has for us as a breed,” he said of “that awful object, the celebrity twitterer”. “But it has driven Twitter.” Continue reading "Stephen Fry and the new kings of Twitter"

Google wakes the sleeping giant: mobile advertising

November 9th, 2009 8:42pm

The mobile advertising market was supposed to be asleep right now.

Conventional wisdom runs that mobile ads – tantalised by claims that this would be the “year of mobile” for roughly the last decade – would take a sideline in the recession as experimental ad budgets were squashed even more than everything else.

So the timing of Google’s $750m all-stock acquisition of Admob is interesting. Continue reading "Google wakes the sleeping giant: mobile advertising"

Bringing internet video services to the living room TV set

October 12th, 2009 10:44am

More details are emerging about Project Canvas, the ambitious joint venture by the BBC, ITV, Five and BT to bring internet video services such as the iPlayer from the bedroom PC to the living-room TV set.

Our interview in today’s FT with Marc Watson, head of BT Vision, revealed how BT envisages Canvas will work for consumers and content owners, should the BBC Trust approve the service. Continue reading "Bringing internet video services to the living room TV set"

Nokia maps a path to Dopplr’s door

September 28th, 2009 7:01pm

Nokia has acquired Dopplr, an online community of frequent travellers, giving an early payday for the site’s large group of high-profile backers.

The acquisition is part of Nokia’s plan to create a comprehensive set of services for its mobile devices, including maps, music and gaming.

Dopplr – whose tagline is “where next?” – allows its members to indicate to chosen contacts where they are travelling to. Continue reading "Nokia maps a path to Dopplr’s door"

The Google Adwords trademarks row is set to continue

September 22nd, 2009 6:57pm

Googlers will be breathing sighs of relief today that the European Court of Justice has indicated the search group can continue selling trademarked advertising keywords to anyone.

But for advertisers, the legal battle is far from over. Continue reading "The Google Adwords trademarks row is set to continue"

The curious case of the UK’s missing Gmail

September 21st, 2009 7:57pm

Google’s email service is finally returning to its original Gmail branding in the UK after a four-year absence, after Google settled a trademark dispute.

Google paid £226,324 for the intellectual property rights for Gmail to a small UK-based financial research firm, Independent International Investment Research. Continue reading "The curious case of the UK’s missing Gmail"

Seedcamp sees greater diversity of European start-ups

September 10th, 2009 4:43pm

Tech entrepreneurs are fleeing from social networks and advertising revenue streams and moving into business applications, according to Seedcamp, the start-up investor that holds its annual event in London later this month.

Seedcamp – which was founded by Index Ventures’ Saul Klein and Reshma Sohoni, formerly of 3i – has seen advertising-based business models drop from 30 per cent to 10 per cent of the 1,500 entries to its Pop Idol-style investment contest since 2007.

By contrast, marketplaces that take a fee or percentage of transactions have risen by more than 60 per cent in the last three years, while “freemium” businesses have more than doubled. Productivity and business applications have increased 90 per cent while online games have “skyrocketed”, said Ms Sohoni. Continue reading "Seedcamp sees greater diversity of European start-ups"

Hands on with the Spotify iPhone app

September 7th, 2009 11:18am

It is one of the most hotly anticipated apps yet to appear on the iPhone.

From today, Spotify – the digital music application credited by some for finally luring listeners away from online piracy – can sit alongside iTunes on Apple’s mobile, as well as on phones running Google’s Android software.

On the PC, Spotify allows its users to listen to any of its millions of tracks for free, supported by advertising. On a mobile, users must upgrade to its premium subscription, which costs £9.99 a month or £119.88 a year (and also provides ad-free listening on the PC). Continue reading "Hands on with the Spotify iPhone app"

Augmented reality comes to the FT

August 28th, 2009 10:48am

Augmented reality comes to the FT

Today’s edition of the Financial Times features an experiment with an emerging technology which is already winning over geeks and marketeers alike: augmented reality. Continue reading "Augmented reality comes to the FT"

New ministers join the anti-pirate party

August 16th, 2009 5:23pm

The debate over what to do with those caught swapping music and movies online has flared up again this weekend after the FT reported that the UK government was considering accelerating its anti-piracy plans.

Recent ministerial changes have given record labels and other rights holders fresh ears for their lobbying, after the departure of Lord Carter, whose Digital Britain report pledged to reduce piracy by 70 per cent.

A renewed push for tougher sanctions against filesharers seems to be working. Stephen Timms, the Treasury minister who took the Digital Britain reins this month, has hinted that Ofcom could be given its “backstop” powers to force ISPs to restrict offenders’ broadband connections or block access to certain sites sooner than expected. Continue reading "New ministers join the anti-pirate party"