The Good NET Guide

Posts Tagged ‘existing’

When it was announced that retailer Walmart would buy streaming movie startup Vudu a couple days ago, a number of sites wondered what it would mean for Vudu’s adult content. Here’s what it means: bye bye.

An email is currently being sent out by Vudu letting its After Dark (the adult portion of its service run with adult publication AVN) partners that the section will be discontinued in the “coming days.” Find the full email at the bottom of this post.

Vudu has the distinction of being the only major streaming service with an adult section which includes hundreds of titles (including many in HD) from the leading porn studios. This section also allowed for “discreet billing” so movie titles wouldn’t appear on statements. Walmart, on the other hand, couldn’t be any more the opposite with regard to its adult content policy. As in, there is none allowed in its stores. Famously, in some cases it will also only agree to carry edited versions of explicit music albums.

This move comes at a time when Apple is also removing what it considers to be explicit material from the App Store (though none of it was technically porn). Though there are now hints it may launch a new explicit area of the store at a later time.

Below, find the email going out to Vudu partners. As you can see, it’s asking partners to voluntary terminate the agreement amicably, even though the existing terms aren’t up yet. We’ve reached out to Vudu and Walmart about the shutdown, but they have yet to get back to us. We’ll update when they do.

Dear VUDU After Dark Partner,

As you may have recently heard, VUDU was acquired by Wal-Mart. In conjunction with this acquisition we will be discontinuing the “After Dark” adult service over the coming days. Upon completion of the shutdown process, we will settle all accounts with you and ensure that you are paid the full amount you are owed under our existing agreement.

Attached to this agreement, please find a voluntary termination notice to our existing distribution agreement. As there has been no breach of contract by either party, there are no grounds to terminate the agreement under its existing terms. However, given the discontinuation of After Dark, we believe it makes sense for both sides to voluntary terminate the agreement. The alternative is to allow the agreement to expire under the existing terms, but we believe this is cleaner for all parties.

We ask that you complete, sign and return this termination notice at your earliest convenience. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Update: A Walmart spokesperson further confirms the news:

“I can confirm that we no longer offer that content and that customers who previously purchased movies with adult content will receive a full refund.”

According to the FCC, about 93 million Americans don’t use fast, broadband Internet, citing cost and complexity as a factor in their refusal to enter the 20th century.

The study, below, found that 80 million adults and 13 million children either still use dial-up or don’t use the Internet at all at home, suggesting that either the survey methodology might be flawed or we’re in serious trouble.

In addition to the cameras we told you about earlier today , Samsung also announced two new mini-camcorders. Expanding on their existing line, the new Samsung models pretty much just bring the specs up to the next level and add a few new features. When Samsung brought their first mini-camcorder onto the market, no one really noticed

The rest is here: 
Samsung keeps the mini-camcorder war rolling, announces two new models

You are now aware that bathtubs can have portholes . I was actually about to ask why we don’t have clear bathtubs ( we do , in fact) and it occurred to me that, well, let’s be honest: that thing isn’t going to look clear for long. Soap, water, and our natural oils will do their work to make that large expanse of glass nearly opaque after a little while.

Go here to read the rest:
A bathtub with portholes, so you can look out – or in

For anyone who listens to Keith Urban’s advice and actually buys music, you might have already noticed that most Japanese artists aren’t on iTunes. The reasons why are boring and complicated, but just know that our friends at J-List have a work around for anyone who really really wants every anime soundtrack ever. Essentially, Japanese music record labels and Apple couldn’t come to an agreement over price, so Japanese music stays in Japan

Go here to see the original: 
You can’t buy Japanese music on iTunes you say?

AboutUs, the wiki for anything that has its own website, has snapped up a tiny startup called Jyte, the company announced in a blog post moments ago.

The terms weren’t disclosed, but you don’t need to consult any wikis to realize this is likely a very small deal.

AboutUs is just getting started, having raised a relatively small amount of venture capital (most recently $2.5 million from Voyager Capital) over the past few years.

On Jyte, people can toss out a claim, e.g. “There’s no one who can park a car in reverse better than me”, about yourself or other persons (hence ’spreading the cred’ as they call it). The community – made up of people you know or don’t know at all – subsequently opines with votes, comments and related claims.

Basically, you can use Jyte to validate claims by putting them out there and let others have their say about them.

How Jyte fits into AboutUs’ strategy is a complete mystery to me, but here’s what CEO Ray King had to say about the purchase:

Jyte has a devoted community of people who enjoy debating each other’s claims. We plan to support that community by continuing to develop the site.

Jyte uses RPX, a technology that allows people to use a single portable identity across websites. Instead of creating a new login on every site you visit, use your existing Facebook, Google, Twitter, OpenID or other existing identity – brilliant! We’re planning to implement RPX on AboutUs as well.

Like Jyte, AboutUs has a strong community and we welcome Jyte folks to join us. We think the AboutUs community will enjoy getting to know Jyte as well, and we’re looking forward to learning interesting things from Jyte and its people.

Based on this blog post from 3 years ago, Jyte was built by entrepreneur and OpenID advocate Scott Kveton, JanRain’s Brian Ellin and Dag Rorek Arneson.

This is the second project Kveton has sold in a week; last week he announced that he sold online bacon store – yes, really – bac’n to competitor BaconFreak.com.

Read up on that, it’s a cool story.

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RealNetworks is finally getting some new blood.  The company has just announced that founder and CEO Rob Glaser will be stepping down as CEO, to remain as chairman of the company board of directors. Replacing him for the time being will be Bob Kimball, who has been with Real since 1999 and most recently was the company’s general counsel and executive vice president of corporate development. The executive shakeup doesn’t just involve Glaser — yesterday reports emerged that COO John Giamatteo had resigned and would be leaving in April.

Real hasn’t had a hit product in many years, and its stock has long been stagnant. The nail in the coffin for the current executive team may have been the recent dismissal of the company’s suit against Walt Disney and other movie studios. The suit alleged that the studios were violating anti-competition laws for blocking Real from selling their DVD copying software, RealDVD.

As of August 2009 Glaser owned 51.97 million shares of RealNetworks, or around 38.4% of the 135 million shares.  The press release is below:

Digital entertainment services company RealNetworks, Inc., (Nasdaq: RNWK) announced today that founder Rob Glaser has stepped down as CEO. He will remain chairman of the board of directors of RealNetworks. The company also announced that its board of directors has appointed Robert Kimball president and acting chief executive officer. The board also appointed Mr. Kimball to the board of directors.

“After nearly 16 years, I’ve decided it’s time for me to step away from day-to-day operations,” said Glaser. “I’m grateful to all of our stakeholders – customers, partners, shareholders, and most of all, employees – for the support and commitment they’ve given to RealNetworks. I remain committed to the company and look forward to continuing to serve in my capacity as board chairman.”

In February 1994, Mr. Glaser founded what was then known as Progressive Networks, a pioneer in the field of digital audio and video technology for the Internet. Under his leadership, Real has grown into a multinational company, providing digital entertainment products and services to hundreds of millions of consumers around the world.

“Few people have changed an industry and created a unique experience for billions of people,” said Jonathan Klein, a board member of RealNetworks and the co-founder and CEO of Getty Images. “Rob has changed the face of digital entertainment with RealNetworks’ streaming media products. At the same time Rob has had a profound impact on politics and philanthropy. I’m sure he will continue to do this extraordinary work as well as spending time with his wife and young children. We are grateful for all he has done for the company, the industry and employees, and are pleased that he will continue to serve on the board.”

Bob Kimball joined the company in 1999 and has been a member of the senior executive team since 2003. He most recently served as general counsel and executive vice president of corporate development at Real. “In the decade he’s been at Real, Bob has proven to be an outstanding business executive and leader, and under his leadership the company won’t skip a beat,” said Mr. Glaser. “Our board has great confidence in Bob, and he will be a candidate for the permanent CEO position as part of a formal search process that will begin soon.”

“I look forward to the opportunity ahead,” said Mr. Kimball. “Real has a great team in place, a strong financial position, close customer relationships and fantastic products. We plan to transform Real into a more focused and more profitable company that delivers value to our shareholders.”

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Ads on the iPhone, just as ads on the web, are something most users want to avoid. But some of the ad companies that are specifically targeting newer smartphone devices such as the iPhone are becoming increasingly inventive with their approach to advertising. A good example of this just launched today in the NPR app for the iPhone.

In this app, the mobile analytics and advertising company Medialets is serving up an ad for the new album, Contra, by the band Vampire Weekend. At first, the ad just peeks out at the bottom of the NPR app, but if you click to expand it, it quickly takes up the entire device. So why would you want to do this? Because it’s a video for Vampire Weekend’s new song “Cousins” — and thanks to some of the iPhone’s unique features, you can actually interact with the ad, shaking your iPhone to change how the video looks.

Sure, it’s not a huge amount of customization, but it’s much better than normal methods of advertising and it creates a sense of interaction with the ad. Naturally, you can also click the screen to show an option that will allow you to buy the album on the device.

Companies like Google and Apple, two of the most important players in mobile right now, are scooping up some of these mobile ad companies left and right these days. Clearly, they think there’s a bright future for the medium as well.

Watch the ad in action below.

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Yesterday Zynga added offers-for-currency back into its popular Facebook and MySpace games after a two month suspension following the Scamville saga..

Offers from just eight companies are included: Netflix, Discover Card, Blockbuster, HSBC Direct, Gamefly, Book of the Month Club, SnapFish and The New York Times. More will be added over time, each to be reviewed first by Zynga employees for adherence to a “strict set of standards for content and user experience.”

Clearly they are tiptoeing back into offers, and being very careful about how they’re doing it. That’s why it’s fascinating that they’ve chosen Offerpal Media to drive all of the current offers.

Offerpal was at the very heart of the Scamville series. Their CEO, Anu Shukla, kicked things off by losing her temper in responding to a question I had about offer scams (the video of that exchange is at the very bottom of the original Scamville post).

Within a few days Zynga, RockYou and MySpace had all said they would take steps to remove scams from Offerpal and others from their games. And Shukla was out of a job.

New CEO George Garrick promised to clean up Offerpal, saying “we will do everything we can within reason to lead the industry and set the example in these efforts.”

And apparently he has convinced Zynga that he’s done just that. It is an extraordinary turnaround for Offerpal, which has moved from the being the punch line in Silicon Valley jokes to (for now at least) the exclusive provider of offers to the largest social gaming company on the planet.

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Over the last few months Google has been very generously offering free Wi-Fi to travelers at dozens of airports across the country as a sign of holiday cheer. Now it’s becoming clear that their motivations are not purely benevolent: we’re getting multiple reports that when you log into Google’s free Wi-Fi service at some airports, you’re immediately forwared to Google.com/Phone, Google’s new mobile webstore that now sells the Nexus One. Well played, Google. Well played.

This is yet another example of the unconventional marketing blitz that Google has ready for its first phone, which also includes a prominent ad on Google’s famously spartan homepage.

You can’t really fault Google for doing this. After all, they are giving airport Wi-Fi (which often costs $5-10 or more) away for free. And other free airport Wifi certainly isn’t afraid to plaster your screen with ads. We’ve reached out to Google to see if the redirect is happening at every free airport Wi-Fi hotspot, or only at some of them.

Update: A Google spokesperson confirms that some WIFi users are directed to the web store, but says that Google also directs some users to other promotions depending on browser type, their existing settings and cookies.

Thanks to Charlie White for the tip

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