Archives For Web

Slacker Now Powers AOL Radio, More Deals Coming

Mari Silbey —  October 20, 2011 — 7 Comments

Slacker’s got a channel strategy. Yesterday, the streaming music company announced it’s made good on a deal with AOL to replace CBS Radio as the engine behind AOL Radio. On the face of it, the deal may not sound like much, but according to VP Jonathan Sasse, the new agreement could double the amount of content Slacker serves to its listeners. In addition, AOL is not likely to be a “one-off” deal. Sasse hints that we’ll probably see other, similar agreements in the coming months.

The partnership program is an interesting one because of how Slacker structures its relationships. Slacker technology is the engine behind all of its partners’ apps (the company struck a deal with AARP this summer too), but partners can bring their own targeted content with curated stations produced by their own DJs. In the case of AOL, there’s a mix of Slacker stations and AOL ones. Partners can also bundle the service in different ways. AOL is sticking with the Slacker model of offering one free version and two premium tiers (coming in November), but other partners may package their services differently.

I had a brief moment of panic thinking Slacker might be ending its own, beloved, direct-to-consumer business in favor of partner distribution, but Sasse assures me that’s not the case. The channel program is a complement to Slacker’s direct retail business, not a replacement. (Phew.)  Continue Reading…

In Audio, Web
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Unloading Your Old iPhone For Cash

Dave Zatz —  October 4, 2011 — 27 Comments


Click to enlarge.

Thinking of unloading a prior generation iPhone, like me, ahead of the new iPhone 5? In the past I’ve turned to ebay and craigslist to recycle gadgets (for cash), but it’s become a hassle and I’ve been burned too many times (on ebay/PayPal). Leading me to an ebay consignment shop… until they folded. More recently, I’ve been selling my gadgets to Gazelle. And, honestly, it couldn’t be any more efficient. It’s been so dang painless to unload gear, as they pick up the tab on shipping, that their effective commission hasn’t bothered me. However, it seems as Gazelle’s popularity has grown, their cut has increased (and bonus codes have vanished).

After being offered only about $162 for my not-even 8 month old Verizon iPhone 4, I wondered (on Twitter) if I might find better deals elsewhere. Of course, I’d make more money back on ebay or with craiglist. But, again, I’m a busy guy and find engaging on those venues tedious. Basically, I’m fine earning less money to save time. I’ve had luck in the past working deals (cash and/or barter) with coworkers, but a Verizon iPhone is much less portable than a SIMified AT&T variant. Fortunately, as it turns out, Amazon offers a program very similar to Gazelle.

Amazon Trade-In has offered me $226 for my iPhone 4, which is about 64 bucks more than Gazelle. And like Gazelle, Amazon picks up the tab on shipping and will compensate me with an Amazon credit. Given my Prime membership and buying habits, that’s as good as cash in our household. In doing a quick comparison of 4 iPhone models, and even including Gazelle’s 5% bonus for payments issued as Amazon credit, Amazon Trade-In iPhone offers are about 25% more lucrative than Gazelle. Score! Unfortunately, neither Gazelle nor Amazon are interested in my gently used but fully functional prior generation Jawbone and TiVo units.

In Gadgets, Mobile, Web
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Netgear Takes On Roku With NeoTV

Dave Zatz —  September 14, 2011 — 14 Comments

Former Roku licensee Netgear is now taking them and Apple TV on as they go solo with their latest digital media streamer. The new NeoTV 200, which we first learned of last month, “turns your TV into a Smart TV” for all of 80 bucks. Like Roku, the requisite Netflix app is present, but Netgear appears to have slightly better hardware specs for the money (when it comes to networking and audio output)… along with a YouTube app and Vudu video ondemand. Further, free Android and iPhone smartphone remote control apps will be made available. Yet like the Roku, there appears to be a de-emphasis on local media playback.While there’s no USB port, Netgear could conceivably provide LAN playback capabilities via DLNA or similar. Interestingly, from the promotional video above, there looks to be a Showtime app headed to these over-the-to platforms… finally! Amazon’s got the NeoTV 200 shipping on October 10th, so it won’t be long now.

In Gadgets, Video, Web
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The Smart TV Is Dead! Long Live The Smart TV Apps!

Dave Zatz —  September 12, 2011 — 24 Comments

smarttv

On the way to a Boxee-fied television, it appears View Sonic has come to the same conclusion I have regarding Internet-connected displays. From GigaOm:

‘Smart TV’ has not achieved the consumer acceptance or market expectation… that was forecasted over the last couple years. In addition, consumer spending for Smart TV’s in general has experienced a significant slow down as the economy has slowed.

Just because industry is pumping Smart TV doesn’t mean we’re buying. At least not in the numbers the manufacturers may have hoped for. Granted, View Sonic is a minor player in this space… But we’ve been down this path before as manufacturers attempt to shorten the consumer television refresh cycle. And this mirrors the tepid response we witnessed to 3D TVs in 2010. That’s not to say folks aren’t interested in three dimensional content or Internet apps. But they’re less likely to invest in a high end product (sooner) to get those features. In fact, while I’d say we’re just getting started harnessing web content on the television, millions of Apple TVs and Rokus have been sold – as well as presumably even more Internet-connected Blu-ray players. Further, several cable and satellite providers (or their proxies, like TiVo) are bringing over-the-top video (like YouTube) and social Internet features (such as Twitter & Facebook) to the big screen. So why would I buy a new TV? Especially one that has a tendency to reboot.

In HDTV, Video, Web
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Twitter collects Tweeted Photos into User Galleries

Dave Zatz —  August 23, 2011 — 4 Comments

twitter-gallery3

Twitter’s on a tear lately. And, while not all new (Facebook-esque) updates do much for me, their recently integrated native photo hosting (via Photobucket) is a win. As is the brand spanking new photo gallery feature, released to my account just this AM.

Within a user’s profile page, like mine, towards the upper right you’ll now find a filmstrip of recently uploaded photos (assuming you’re logged into Twitter). From there, you’d click on “view all” to be presented with a photo gallery (here’s my grid) of the person’s 100 most recent uploads. Each photo thumbnail can be clicked to launch a larger image and the corresponding tweet. And what makes this killer, for Twitter users, is how it aggregates uploaded photos from multiple hosting services – the aforementioned Twitter, Photobucket, yFrog, Instagram, and my general go to of TwitPic.

The presentation is relatively simplistic. But that’s always been an appeal of Twitter. Having said that, I’d prefer some gallery theme variation/options and I quite appreciate TwitPic’s counter that Twitter hasn’t implemented with their own photo hosting or these new image galleries.

In Web
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