Even under the best of circumstances– standing desks, ergonomic keyboards, customized chairs– typing can be a major pain. Voice recognition technology startup SoundHound hopes to eventually be a part of the solution by allowing people to simply talk to our computers rather than type. Read more »
The BBC is adding new ways for iPlayer viewers to share what they’re watching with their friends and social networks, with a new share button. In addition to standard networks like Facebook and Twitter, iPlayer users can now send videos to Delicious, Digg, Reddit and StumbleUpon. Read more »
Live streaming provider Ustream is adding another possible revenue stream with the introduction of new Premium Memberships. For $3.99 a month, Ustream viewers will now get unlimited access to any live stream on the site without having to watch pre-roll ads before the video loads. Read more »
Remember what it was like to turn on MTV and watch music videos all day? Cull.tv is kind of like that, but better. The startup serves up streams of music videos that are not only are tailored to the viewer, but actually sound good together. Read more »
LinkedIn is upping its expectations for its much-anticipated IPO, which it now believes can pull in as much as $274 million. The company this morning released the pricing for its IPO and is now prepared to offer 7.84 million shares at $32 to $35 each Read more »
Two markets stand out above all else when looking at the first quarter of 2011: infrastructure as a service (IaaS) — the epitome of cloud computing — and big data. Amazon Web Services continues to lead the IaaS space in terms of customers and innovation, while Rackspace, buoyed by momentum around OpenStack, will be its primary competitor for mainstream customers. In the big data space, there are so many players and terms floating about it’s difficult for outsiders to get a handle on who’s who and what’s what, though such activity validates the technologies. Other developments this quarter included HP’s impending presence in the cloud computing and big data spaces and the realization that Intel won’t be left to die if low-power servers based on x86 processors catch on like the buzz late last year suggests they will. Additional companies mentioned in this report include VMware, Microsoft, Cloudera, SeaMicro and Facebook. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Europe’s hottest on-demand music service, Spotify, is narrowing its free offering as it tries to boost subscription numbers and prepare for an American launch. Will it finally end the ongoing delusion that advertising can ever make enough to support streaming music services? Read more »
In what could be a larger push by the federal government to stem the sharing of personal online information, a federal grand jury has served internet radio provider Pandora with a subpoena looking into the practices of information sharing on mobile apps. Read more »
The hype surrounding mobile music continues despite the lack of evidence that the space will ever generate much in the way of revenues. But carriers still have a chance to use music to attract new consumers and keep the ones they have. Read more »
Internet radio pioneer Pandora announced Friday it was filing for an initial public offering, hoping to raise $100 million through the sale of stock. Though saddled with a deficit, the company has seen incredible growth and has been a bright spot in the digital music industry. Read more »
Gluster today announced streaming music pioneer Pandora as a customer, which is telling in a couple ways. It helps validate the billions that large vendors and investors have poured into scale-out storage providers, and it suggests a possible target market for these providers going forward. Read more »
Digital music alone hasn’t been enough to return the music industry to its former state of prosperity, and despite attempts by the likes of Apple, Google, MOG, Spotify and numerous others, a viable new business model has yet to emerge. But music is inherently social, and ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The television business is on the cusp of the biggest technological upheaval since the introduction of cable TV. The addition of Internet connectivity to living room devices will enable new functionality around programming services, program discovery, social networking, ad targeting and measurement — aspects of the TV viewing experience that have remained largely unchanged for decades. These trends have the potential to become the foundation for new economic models around how viewers pay for video service and how program creation is financed. In this report, we examine the leading contenders’ strategic positioning, relative strengths and weaknesses, and provide the early line on their odds of success. Companies mentioned include Google, Apple, Boxee, Roku, Vudu, Samsung, Microsoft and Sony. To see a full list of companies and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
There are few people in this world whom I admire as much as I admire Tim Westergren, founder of Pandora. It is not because he has the most successful company, or the largest or he is the richest. But mostly for his never say die attitude. Read more »
OpenTable is a holdover from the Web 1.0 economy and it might be finding new growth opportunities, thanks to the growing popularity of mobile devices and the rise of anywhere computing. Now all it has to do is think smartly about its business. Read more »
At the of 2009, Pandora had 43 million listeners. On April 1, 2010 that number had grown to 50 million. In less than three months, it has added 10 million new listeners. What’s behind Pandora’s growth? Hint, it is not the browser. Instead look elsewhere. Read more »
Pandora has had a charmed mobile history — the company’s music streaming app is one of the most popular on just about every type of phone out there. So it’s worth hearing Pandora CTO Tom Conrad’s advice about building for various mobile platforms. Read more »
Pandora, the music streaming provider and Silicon Valley darling, has raised additional late-stage funding of an undisclosed amount. Pandora CEO Joe Kennedy said in an emailed statement the funding would be used “to invest in resources we need to continue to execute on our strategy.” Read more »
General Motors moved this week to link its upcoming Chevrolet Volt and in-vehicle communications system, OnStar, with Google navigation tools and smartphones based on the search giant’s Android platform. This marks a key intersection in the trajectories of automakers and Internet giants and could pave the way to much more comprehensive partnerships across previously disconnected industries and systems. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Internet companies have made an art out of creating algorithms that can mine data and unleash innovation and opportunities. Picture the famous recommendation engines behind Netflix and Amazon that drive their businesses and have launched new markets for niche content. Google has forever changed advertising and ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
