The internet powerhouses are using their billions to challenge in sectors far removed from their original business modelsThe webs biggest consumer companies make the bulk of their incomes, and have built up vast assets, from targeted advertising. It accounts for around 90% of Facebooks revenue and much the same for Google. By supporting a vast range of services that variously offer search, chat, email, file storage, video and photo-sharing, they can track every nuance of online activity, preference and behaviour, targeting and adapting advertising and services.Yet with such a simple and lucrative core business, Facebook and Google are investing significant sums in new, exploratory and seemingly unrelated technologies. Facebook astonished the industry with its $2bn acquisition of Oculus Rift, a promising but niche and untested virtual reality headset. Google X, the companys notionally secretive experimental wing, has bought 14 specialist startups since March 2013, covering robotics, machine learning and gesture recognition, but has also been developing Googles self-driving car project, the augmented reality Google Glass headset and Project Loon, which is developing ways of using a network of balloons in the stratosphere to bring internet connectivity to developing regions. Why? Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2014-11-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill, Lisa Campbell and Neill Denny Publication Date: Fri, 25/03/2011 - 12:44 The future of Waterstone's is expected to be resolved in the next four weeks, with speculation mounting that managing director Dominic Myers could lead a management buyout. Parent HMV Group... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Google may seek help from Congress as it tries to salvage a book publishing settlement that was rejected by a federal judge. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2011-03-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Tue, 22/03/2011 - 19:52 A New York judge has ruled that the revised Google Book Settlement is not "fair, adequate, and reasonable" and has denied final approval. Judge Denny Chin has instead told the parties to redraft the settlement as an "opt-in"... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bloomberg announced today that it will launch the Bloomberg Media Group, a media group that pulls together all of Bloombergs consumer properties. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-03-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Google took a slap at Microsoft on Tuesday, saying the software giant's patent lawsuit against bookseller Barnes & Noble's Android-based e-reader stifles... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2011-03-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Popular Science has been at the front of the pack in terms of early adoption since the start of the apps race. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-03-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Media companies of the future will be organized differently from the way they are now, with much higher capital expense costs and much greater need for in-house digital development skill. That, with some accommodations for varying markets and editorial missions, was essentially the conclusion of... Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-03-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Googles algorithmic changes (which the search giant claims will effect 11.8 percent of queries) take aim at what it says are low-quality sitessites which are low-value add for users, copy content from other web sites or sites that are just not very useful. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-03-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Katie Allen Publication Date: Wed, 09/03/2011 - 08:39 John Murray has acquired a title by the c.e.o. of Google after a seven-publisher auction. M.d. Roland Phillips acquired UK and Commonwealth rights in a "major" deal to Empire of the Mind: The Dawn of the Techno-Political Age.... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Fri, 04/03/2011 - 10:08 Book Marketing Limited has began new research among publishers to predict what comes next in digital. The provider of market research is working on behalf of Publishing Technology to assess what impact e-publishing is having... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Fri, 25/02/2011 - 08:20 Google has introduced ebooks to the web version of its Android Market of apps. By buying an app on the webstore, a user can then push it onto any Android-enabled device. PC Mag reports the book capacity was added yesterday... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A day after Apple stirred up online publishers with its digital subscription plan, Google announced a service that aims to be more publisher-friendly. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2011-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Google announced today the creation of a service, Google One Pass, which will allow publishers to set their own prices and terms for the sale of digital content. Eric Schmidt introduced this new service at Humboldt University in Berlin. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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By Joe Wilcox, Betanews Well, that didn't take long. One day after Apple dropped its subscription plan bomb on suspicious publishers, Google officially countered with One Pass. Google strips out the onerous restrictions Apple imposes. It's a brilliant marketing response, and aptly timed with new... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2011-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Magazine publisher Future, owner of Total Film and Classic Rock, has appointed former media investment banker Manjit Wolstenholme as non-executive director. Continue reading at Media Week
[ Media Week | 2011-02-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Expect much higher capital expense costs and much greater need for in-house digital development skill. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-02-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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By Tim Conneally, Betanews Google on Thursday finally launched a renewed web-based Android Market that integrates with a user's Google account and lets him shop for applications and send them to the various Android-powered devices linked to the account. This new shop marks the industry-wide... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2011-02-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Fri, 04/02/2011 - 09:01 Publishers are being warned to check their Google Books data online as thousands of titles have been mistakenly attributed to publisher BPR. Independent UK publisher Childrens Story Publishers spotted the mistake after its... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page A new Media and Entertainment group has been created within Penguin Childrens Books under newly promoted publishing director Eric Huang. The group combines the BBC Children's, Sunbird and Ladybird licensing teams. Penguin Children's Books m.d. Francesca Dow said... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Borders has finally secured an agreement for fresh funding, with GE Capital providing $550m of new cash, but only if publishers stump up $125m. Publishers Weekly reports the troubled retailer has said for the first time that it doesn't rule out the possibility of... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-01-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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