iPad users are forking over plenty of money to read their favorite digital publications on Apple’s iPad. In the U.S., the top 100 grossing publications in Apple’s Newsstand in February made more than $70,000 per day, according to Distimo. Pretty good for a five-month old product. Read more »
One thing that becomes clear from the latest Pew report on the state of media is just how big a role aggregators — both human and machine-powered — are playing in news consumption. That is both a danger and an opportunity for mainstream media players. Read more »
The Kony2012 campaign from Invisible Children is one of the most viral social-media campaigns of all time. But is it a sign of how powerful social media can be as a news-distribution mechanism, a sign of how dangerous it can be or both? Read more »
With its newly launched iPhone app, News.me wants to become a “purpose-built” social network for sharing — and discussing — the news. One of the big hurdles for the New York-based startup is that this is pretty much what Twitter wants to be as well. Read more »
Debates about whether Twitter breaks news or not miss the point about how the news game has changed with the arrival of social media and the democratization of distribution it provides. Mainstream media outlets are still players, but they are no longer the only ones. Read more »
Instead of appearing on TV or in a newspaper, events like the death of Whitney Houston are as likely to be reported in a tweet or on Facebook — and in the long run, this shrinking of the traditional “news cycle” could be a good thing. Read more »
A new policy from Sky News bars reporters from posting anything other than work-related content on Twitter, and even forbids them from retweeting anything that doesn’t come from a Sky account. As with so many other similar policies, this completely misses the point of social media. Read more »
The Associated Press and a consortium of major media owners such as the New York Times have launched a “news registry” called NewsRight. The entity says it is about tracking and licensing content, but where will it draw the line on “over-aggregation” and fair use principles? Read more »
While Google’s new Currents app for mobile news-reading is seen by some as a competitor to Flipboard and Zite, there are some crucial differences between them that make me wonder whether Google really understands how media is changing and how they can take advantage of that. Read more »
On the iPad, few would deny that Flipboard is a category leader; its delivery of personalized, multi-source news is pretty hard to top. Now, the Flipboard team has brought that class-defining experience to the iPhone, in a way that makes perfect sense for the smaller screen. Read more »
In another sign that it doesn’t really understand the evolution of media in the age of Twitter, the Associated Press has admonished its journalists for posting news about their own arrests to Twitter instead of saving that information for its traditional wire service. Read more »
On Wednesday, Yahoo released its Livestand app, which combines aspects of apps like Flipboard and Zite with the digital magazine rack concept of Apple’s Newsstand. I took the app through its paces to see how the hybrid approach holds up in the face of the competition. Read more »
On Friday, Zite introduced a new update to its iPad app that includes a feature called Sybil, which allows Zite to create and switch between multiple profiles on one device. Zite can now recommend uniquely tailored content to more than one individual in a single household. Read more »
Yahoo and ABC announced a partnership that will see the two combine their news assets. Although it isn’t being described as a merger, it might as well be one — but is it going to work any online magic for either entity? It’s difficult to see how. Read more »
Facebook has announced partnerships with a host of news publishers that will now allow their content to be viewed within the social networking site. It’s a bold move for the news industry, but Facebook will certainly benefit by keeping users even more within its walls. Read more »
Facebook has launched a new “personal newspaper”-style news feed, while both Digg and Klout are using their internal ranking systems to try and create topic pages. But will any of these solve the growing problem of information overload, or will they just add to the noise? Read more »
The Guardian’s latest attempt to become a serious player in the American market is gearing up, with the launch of a new homepage for US readers. But after many failed attempts, can it ever succeed – or could its American dream turn into a nightmare? Read more »
The impact of digital technology has shattered long-established monopolies and ways of making money in the newspaper publishing industry. Today, publishers must find ways to subsidize content-creation costs directly, and this report examines a few different approaches, from more flexible paywalls to charging users directly for access and mimicking the business models of other industries, such as online gaming. Companies mentioned in this report include Ford, Netflix, Amazon and Hulu. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Diffbot is trying help developers build apps that read the web like humans. The company’s technology uses visual learning robotics and artificial intelligence to view web content visually, helping apps analyze web data like humans. The company is releasing its first APIs to developers today. Read more »
When you pick up your iPad, where do you poke first? I tend to hit Reeder first, and read quite a few articles before moving on to my local newspaper app. It looks like I’m not alone, according to new engagement statistics released Tuesday. Read more »
Digg has launched a new feature called Newswire that it hopes can make it a player again in the field of social news-sharing services — but after a disastrous redesign and the departure of its founder, can copycat features bring back any of Digg’s faded glory? Read more »
Are those who post unverified reports on Twitter playing an important role in the new ecosystem of news, or being irresponsible and indulging in gossip? That question goes to the heart of the idea of news as a process rather than a finished product. Read more »
For all the talk of social media replacing RSS, I still find it to be the best way to get news efficiently. A quick look at the Mac App Store shows quite a few RSS reader options, so here’s a look at three of the best. Read more »
The surprise death of London’s much-loved Tower Bridge Twitter account over a trademark claim has upset its fans. But with the service facing increasing demands from litigious trademark owners and well-funded businesses, should we really expect Twitter to hold a higher standard? Read more »
A Scottish man has revealed he’s the writer behind a blog detailing the life of a gay Syrian woman. But as the inquest begins into how he fooled the world’s media and thousands of readers, can we really insulate ourselves from fakes and liars? Read more »
Even with Twitter, Facebook and so many other social discovery tools popping up, I’m still a big fan of good old-fashioned RSS for my reading needs. That’s why I’m excited about the release of Reeder for Mac, which is now available on the Mac App Store. Read more »
In another example of the power of instantaneous publishing, a woman in Florida who was raped posted messages about the incident to Twitter — raising questions about how the media should handle such events, and reinforcing how the way we get our news and information is changing. Read more »
Google said Friday it has added location-based news to its mobile version of Google News — not a huge development for the web giant, but another step towards offering news that is personally relevant to readers, something newspapers and other media outlets continue to struggle with. Read more »
The American Society of News Editors has come out with a report looking at social-media policies at major media organizations, and while there is some positive advice, the report continues to tell media outlets that journalists should not be human beings when they are online. Read more »
While many would like to give credit to Twitter for breaking the news about Osama bin Laden, this isn’t about Twitter vs. media — it’s about the reality of a new ecosystem of news, one in which Twitter and Facebook play an extremely powerful role. Read more »
Contractual rules prevent Current.tv from launching Keith Olbermann’s daily show until late spring, but that doesn’t stop the former MSNBC commentator from going in front of the camera. Olbermann posted a few clips on his own site this week, drumming up support for his upcoming show. Read more »
What news consumers really need is some way to filter all the information they can pull in and have new content recommended to them, but despite some new entrants like News360, social networks like Twitter and Facebook have so far proven to be the best solution. Read more »
AOL’s recent acquisition of the Huffington Post for $315 million has centered a lot of attention on its content strategy — big part of which is automating and standardizing content that attracts search-related advertising. While there are some clear benefits to this “content farm” approach to content, there are also some significant disadvantages. Here we look at some of the leaders in this sector and their histories, as well as the key risks and benefits of the content farm strategy. Companies mentioned in this report include AOL, The Huffington Post, MySpace, Demand Media, Google and Associated Content. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Want to watch a 24-hour news network without having cable? Then you might want to check out Tiltview, a mashup that combines news clips from a number of networks to a continuous 24-hour stream, complete with leanback-like user interface developed with Google TV in mind. Read more »
There’s talk of the future of media in the air. So let’s examine how NewNet technologies like social media and real-time feeds are helping to re-invent the ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Twitter co-founder Biz Stone caused a stir when he mused during an interview about the company helping to create a “Twitter News Service” for major news organizations. But the reality is that Twitter is already a distributed news network — it just needs better filters. Read more »
A new patent the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office just approved was filed in 2008 by Apple and prevents users from sending and receiving “objectionable” text messages. The patent, officially called “Text-based communication control for personal communication device,” essentially prevents what’s known as “sexting.” Read more »
Google is reportedly testing the integration of Twitter within Google News, which would allow users to login and see news stories shared by people they follow. Google CEO Eric Schmidt recently said the web giant would be adding “a social layer” to all its services. Read more »
Line losses are now the single greatest threat to the mobile sector’s growth, and major carriers must overcome the ceiling under which they now find themselves and the growth of their business. The solution lies not in voice-centric mobile devices but with new non-phone data-consuming devices like tablets, e-readers and machine-to-machine technology like digital picture frames, personal navigation devices and more. Tier 1 carriers — Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile — face a number of challenges, including a lack of control over distribution, disruptions to traditional pricing models and the unique nature of M2M deployments. For them, success will rely on experimenting with business models and the ability to quickly adjust data plans to drive profitability and growth. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Whether you liked or loathed the premiere of NBC’s The Event last night, the transmedia elements accompanying the series are super-disappointing. While there are a few sites and Twitter accounts, their level of success ranges from mildly entertaining to flat-out disjointed. Read more »
