The Good NET Guide

Posts Tagged ‘morning’

At the most recent Mobile World Congress, Google CEO Eric Schmidt revealed that the company’s partners are now selling over 60,000 Android handsets on a daily basis. With that kind of growth rate, it’s no wonder that the size of the Android Market is increasing in its slipstream.

While Google doesn’t publicly show how many apps there are in Android Market, a Google rep this morning informed me that the store now serves approx. 30,000 apps in total.

Opera Software has been busy lately, releasing fresh finalized and beta products on a near-daily basis. This morning, the company announced that it has released a native version of Opera Mini 5 beta for handsets running Windows Mobile 5 and 6.

Interestingly, the new WinMo version of Opera Mini does not require Java. That basically means any Windows Mobile phone can accommodate the app.

Despite not requiring Java, Opera Mini 5 beta for Windows Mobile includes the same feature set as the Java-based version. That means features like tabbed browsing, speed dial, bookmarks and the password manager are built right in (also see video below).

To download, simply point your current mobile browser to m.opera.com/next.

(Press release)

Poor Jon Rubinstein. After a strong, early push, Palm’s sales have slowed and revenue has dried up with $300-$320 million in Q3.

Continued here: 
Palm CEO talks about disappointing sales

Evernote, a great Web service that enables people to capture and store information, memories, and content in various environments, this morning announced the availability of an Evernote SmartSolution app for three of Lexmark’s inkjet printers: Interact, Prestige and Platinum.

The Evernote SmartSolution application basically allows users to send hardcopy scans from these Lexmark devices straight into their Evernote Web account with the touch of a single button, computer not required.

The Evernote application was developed by Lexmark, and a shortcut to the service can be added to the printer touch screens in a matter of minutes. After setup, tapping the Evernote application can send scans to pre-configured Evernote accounts over the Web.

At the end of last year, venture capital backed Evernote had about 2 million people using its service, and its conceivable that only a small subset of those actually own one of those Lexmark printers. That said, I like the idea of being able to manage Web services on devices other than computers and phones.

Now can they please hook up my fridge?

Canadian performance marketing solutions company Yellow Pages Group (YPG) this morning announced that it has come to an agreement with rival 411 Local Search Corp, under which terms YPG will purchase the 411.ca brand and domain names and acquire an ownership interest in the company to boot.

Simultaneously, the company announced that it has acquired Clear Sky Media, owner of a number of digital coupons and price comparison websites, for an undisclosed sum.

The former agreement will enable YPG to build traffic for its own properties, Canada411.ca and YellowPages.ca, essentially leveraging the brand and growing reach of online directory 411.ca. Under the agreement, 411 Local Search will retain an exclusive license to use the 411.ca trademark until YPG purchases the balance of outstanding shares in the company within approx. three to five years.

In a joint press release, 411.ca is said to have grown to attract close to 10% of online users, generating 13 million queries for local Canadian businesses each month. The addition of the 411.ca site will add approximately one million unduplicated unique visitors to YPG’s network reach, the companies added.

The second acquisition that was announced by YPG this morning is that of Clear Sky Media, a holding company that operates RedFlagDeals and Scarlett Lounge, both community sites centered around discounts and coupons on the web and mobile, as well as price comparison engine PriceCanada.com. RedFlagDeals alone attracts 2.2 million unique visitors per month, according to comScore Media Metrix.

Detailed terms and deal size were not disclosed for either agreement.

Christian media company Salem Communications this morning confirmed reports that it had acquired Hot Air, the conservative blog started by author and journalist Michelle Malkin, for an undisclosed sum.

The news comes after Mediaite yesterday reported the acquisition as a done deal, although neither party confirmed the agreement until earlier this morning.

Hot Air was started by Malkin on April 24, 2006 as a “conservative Internet broadcast network” and is currently managed by editors Ed Morrissey and (someone who goes by the pseudonym) AllahPundit on a day-to-day basis. The Hot Air blog will join Townhall.com as part of Salem’s Internet division, Salem Web Network (SWN).

Combined, the two conservative websites will reach 3 million unique readers, Salem claims, although the media company didn’t specify whether those are monthly uniques.

Press release:

Salem Communications Acquires HotAir.com

Blog Site Joins With Townhall to Create Largest Conservative News and Commentary Voice on the Web

WASHINGTON, DC–(Marketwire – February 18, 2010) – Salem Communications (NASDAQ: SALM), a leading U.S. radio broadcaster, Internet content provider and magazine publisher targeting audiences interested in faith, family and conservative values, announced today at the Conservative Political Action Conference that it has acquired HotAir.com — the popular right-of-center blog showcasing the news, analysis and commentary of Ed Morrissey and AllahPundit — from Michelle Malkin.

HotAir.com — combined with Townhall.com — creates the largest conservative commentary, analysis, and news network on the Web with more than 3 million unique readers.

Best-selling author, blogger, and syndicated columnist Michelle Malkin, who started HotAir.com in 2006, said of the acquisition, “HotAir has experienced phenomenal growth — beyond our wildest expectations. With its established radio platform and fast-growing Internet brands, Salem is perfectly positioned to take HotAir to the next level as a conservative multimedia powerhouse.”

Jonathan Garthwaite, VP & General Manager of Townhall/HotAir, commenting on the acquisition said, “I have always respected Michelle Malkin and the insights and opinions presented by HotAir. I look forward to working with Ed Morrissey and AllahPundit during a critical period in determining our country’s future. The combination of the #1 conservative opinion and news site and the #1 conservative news and commentary blog creates a real force for conservative values in 2010 and beyond,” he added.

Townhall/HotAir is a part of Salem Communications’ Internet division, Salem Web Network (SWN). Tom Perrault, Senior Vice President of SWN, said, “The addition of HotAir doubles the size of Salem’s expanding footprint in online conservative commentary. It’s a perfect fit for us, since we can leverage talk radio, print and other online assets to aggressively grow the site, while offering political organizations and advertisers an even more effective way to reach and engage the conservative audience.”

“The acquisition by Salem Communications is an exciting step for HotAir. I am looking forward to working with my good friends at Salem with their large radio network and websites,” said HotAir blogger Ed Morrissey. “I have worked for a very good friend and mentor for the last two years, Michelle Malkin. Congratulations to Michelle for her vision and hard work in turning HotAir into one of the most frequented political websites,” Morrissey added.

“It’s an honor to work with a company as respected as Salem and an amazing opportunity to expand HotAir’s reach ahead of the midterm elections,” said AllahPundit, who blogs under a pseudonym. “Eternal thanks to Michelle Malkin, for having taken a chance on me when no one else would. I can never repay her for her kindness.”

We had a brief chat with Opera Software product analyst Phillip Grønvold here at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Tuesday. We had a conversation about the company’s plans to submit an Opera Mini iPhone app up for App Store approval, of which we posted the video yesterday.

Another thing we touched upon was the recently announced plans to provide handset manufacturers with a toolkit to get the company’s Opera Mobile product preloaded on Android devices. Grønvold demoed the app running on Google’s Nexus One phone, and we recorded the video of the app in action.

Only when you’re talking about a phone designed in the same vein as the massive (though drop-dead gorgeous) HTC HD2 with its 4.3 inch display would you ever call a phone with a 3.2″ display “mini” .

More: 
HTC makes the HD mini official

Early this morning, RIM made a pre-release version of their upcoming Twitter for BlackBerry client available to select members of the media. Our own Leena Rao isn’t too fond of it — but that doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t be, right?

RIM was nice enough to slip us some extra codes, so a few of our readers are going to get to try it themselves. Want to give the new client a try a full month before anyone else gets it? Read on to find out how to win a code.

Read the rest at MobileCrunch >>

If you’ve ever planned a wedding, you know how overwhelming it can be. Between organizing your guest lists, vendor contracts, budgets, seating and invitations, it can be tough to keep track of all of your documents and be able to share these easily with your partner and families. To help alleviate these stresses, Google is now offering customized wedding templates in Google Docs.

Google has added over 20 wedding templates in Docs that let users access pre-made documents to track your wedding budget, collect addresses for invitations, compare vendors and much more. Templates range from wedding photo albums, to music lists for the DJ or Band to seating charts.

The bonus is that Google Docs are easy to share, so you can simple share any of your documents with others.
Google’s also partner with wedding blog StyleMePretty.com to add editorial tips from wedding experts to each template.

This is an incredibly useful feature for Google Docs and is sure to be used by both wedding planners and those ladies and gents who are planning their own weddings. After just getting married last year, I would have most certainly used many of these templates to better organize my wedding-related events.