Category Archives: Internet Services

First, a report:

What Americans Do Online: Social Media And Games Dominate Activity —  Americans spend nearly a quarter of their time online on social networking sites and blogs, up from 15.8 percent just a year ago (43 percent increase) according to new research released today from The Nielsen Company.

Upon social networking, Facebook and Google were preparing a war.

Google and Slide: building a more social web —  We're excited to announce we've acquired Slide, a social technology company with an extensive history of building new ways for people to connect with others across numerous platforms online.  —  For Google, the web is about people …

Facebook on ‘lockdown’ as it prepares for war with Google —  It looks like Google isn't the only one gearing up for a social network battle.  —  Rumors surfaced in June that the search giant was developing a Facebook competitor called Google Me, and the company's social networking ambitions became …

And about online map:

Google Earth Used To Fine People With Pools, Again —  “Under the table” pools may be the catalyst of the next technology revolution in government.  During last February's economic collapse in Greece, the normally technophobic Greek government used Google Maps and Google Earth to find people …

Bing's Bringing Sexy Maps —  Over the last few weeks a few of you lucky ducks got to experience a new map type we were flighting.  Around 10% of users were seeing our new maps in all its aesthetic glory.  Today, we're releasing it to everyone.  The new map type has two experiences …

Google finally waved goodbye to Google Wave. And Google CEO Eric Schmidt said that Google celebrated on this failure. Aha. But someone reminded its former closed Dodgeball was providing the same service of today's popular FourSquare service.

Wave Goodbye To Google Wave —  Maybe it was just ahead of its time.  Or maybe there were just too many features to ever allow it to be defined properly, but Google is saying today that they are going to stop any further development of Google Wave.  —  Wave, a real time messaging platform …

Let's Celebrate Google's Biggest Failures! —  “We celebrate our failures,” Google CEO Eric Schmidt said yesterday when speaking at the Techonomy confernce, in response to the surprise closure of his company's Google Wave product.  When it comes to failures, Google's celebrating more than you might realize.

Perhaps Not Fondly, Google's Schmidt Remembers Dodgeball “Quite Well” —  Yesterday, Google CEO Eric Schmidt sat down with a group of reporters after his panel at the Techonomy conference in Lake Tahoe, CA.  He said he was open to taking any questions, so I decided to ask him about Foursquare.

Question and Answer services were hot this week. Both Ask.com and Facebook released their products:

Ask.com Gets Back to Its Roots: Launches Q&A Service —  Ask.com launched in 1996 and even though the site went through a number of changes through the years (remember Jeeves?), it is still one of the first services many Internet users think of when looking for a site where they can get their questions answered.

Searching for Answers?  Ask Facebook Questions —  Millions of people ask their friends questions on Facebook every day.  What new music should I listen to?  Where's the best sushi place in town?  How do I learn to play the piano?  —  Today we're introducing Facebook Questions …

Location Based Service ( LBS ) was still getting hotter and hotter.

FourSquare's Crowley on Facebook, Check-in Fatigue & the Copy Cats —  I was in New York this week, and as part of my visit, I decided to check-in (pun intended) with Foursquare co-founder Dennis Crowley.  He showed off the company's massive new office that is still under construction …

Facebook Closing In On Acquiring Check-In Service Hot Potato —  We're hearing from sources close to the deal that Facebook is in late stage negotiations to buy Hot Potato, the social activity service.  The deal is not yet finalized from what we're hearing, but could be at any moment.

Google Opens Places API With Initial Focus On Check-In Apps —  At Google I/O in May, the search giant indicated that they were about to take their commitment to location to the next level.  Sure, Latitude had been around for a while, but everyone knew that Google could do more in the space.

Yelp CEO: “There is real tension” between Google Places and Yelp —  Today at TechCrunch's Cruchup in Palo Alto, CA, Jeremy Stoppelman , Yelp's CEO and John Hanke , VP of Product Management at Google talked about the strain that is building up between Yelp and Google Places.

In device world

New Amazon Kindle announced: $139 WiFi-only version and $189 3G model available August 27th in the US and UK —  Let's be honest — you saw this one coming, didn't you?  Today Amazon is introducing a new reading device for e-book aficionados dubbed simply... the Kindle.

Kindle to Go ‘Mass Market’ —  Amazon Digs in Heels by Introducing New, Cheaper Version of E-Book Reader  —  Amazon.com Inc. plans to release a cheaper Kindle e-reader next month, said Chief Executive Jeff Bezos, laying out a strategy to go “mass market” with an inexpensive gadget designed …

Sony's Response To New Kindle: Not Chasing “Cheapest E-Reader” Title —  All the chatter about Amazon's new, $139 e-reader isn't forcing competitor Sony to lower its prices—at least not yet.  —  On July 29, the day after Amazon's new Kindle was unveiled, Sony released a statement proclaiming …

Apple iMac line gets speedbumped, low-end gets a Core i3 —  It's not as if we haven't heard the rumors building over the last few months, but Apple's long-standing iMac line is seeing its first real update since the Fall of last year on this fine morning.  As predicted, the refreshed iMac line …

Ya, summer days are always hot.

Facebook is no questionable a big hot in the past fews years. After overpassing the Internet traffic of Google, reaching 400 million users, and now it was announcing its 500 million users.

500 Million Stories —  As of this morning, 500 million people all around the world are actively using Facebook to stay connected with their friends and the people around them.  —  This is an important milestone for all of you who have helped spread Facebook around the world.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg Talks to Diane Sawyer as Website Gets 500-Millionth Member —  Zuckerberg Says New Movie is ‘Fiction;’ Claims He Never Agreed to Share Facebook Ownership If Facebook were a country, it would be the third largest one in the world.

But, Facebook also got its another trouble along with the announcement of its big success. Another lawsuit was pointing to its early development, claiming that someone own 84% of Facebook:

Facebook Lawyer ‘Unsure’ Whether Founder Mark Zuckerberg Signed Contract —  A lawyer for Facebook Inc. said she was “unsure” whether company founder Mark Zuckerberg signed a contract that purportedly entitles a New York man to 84 percent of the world's biggest social-networking service.

Facebook ‘Suspects’ Zuckerberg Contract Was ‘Forged’ —  Facebook says it “strongly suspects” forgery is involved in a contract showing its founder Mark Zuckerberg signed away more than half the rights to Facebook for $1,000 in 2003.  The suit to take over the company seven years later is “absurd,” the company said Thursday.

The massive hole in Facebook's latest legal challenge —  Mark Zuckerberg says he owes nothing to Paul Ceglia, the man who recently emerged from the woodwork with the extraordinary claim that he owns 84% of Facebook.  —  Ceglia hired Zuckerberg — then an 18-year-old college freshman …

So success and trouble are always partners. That is proved again.