E-Commerce Blog

NBC is using the Olympics as a “billion-dollar research lab” to get a sense of how people are using different media platforms to experience the Beijing Games that begin Aug. 8. Besides giving advertisers a clearer picture of how much consumers are paying attention to the games, NBC hopes its research provides a comprehensive picture of how people are supplementing TV viewership with tools such as video streaming, video on demand and mobile phones, said Alan Wurtzel, the company’s research chief. “The billion-dollar lab is an extraordinary research opportunity,” he said.

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While You Watch the Olympics, NBC Will Be Watching You

It already dominates the Internet — why not the TV? Probably Google wasn’t thinking exactly in those terms when it conceived the idea for Google Media Server, its latest addition to a ballooning product line. But planting a foothold in a medium in which it so far only dabbles is clearly the driver behind this release. Google Media Server is the company’s latest enhancement to its Google Desktop suite. Basically, it is software that allows users to view content from the Internet on a television.

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Google Media Server: A Giant Toe in the Door?

Call it the iPhone economy. Apple’s soon-to-open online App Store has triggered a scramble among software developers to write business plans aimed at making money off Apple’s iPhone, a mini-computer that doubles as a phone. “I’m seeing an excitement among mobile developers that I’ve never seen before,” said Sam Altman, chief executive and cofounder of Mountain View, Calif.-based Loopt, a location-based social networking service. “People who said they’d never start a mobile company because they didn’t want to rely on the carriers are now starting companies focused only on the iPhone.”

iPhone App Store: A Beacon for Mobile Devs?

AOL is revamping its popular online radio service, adding streams from all 140 CBS-owned radio stations and upgrading its player to add more functions and expand the service’s reach. Much is at stake for AOL, which is looking for new ways to boost revenues from online music streaming a year after a panel of copyright judges sharply increased the royalties that online radio providers pay to record labels and artists. Lisa Namerow, the general manager of AOL’s online radio unit, said the company’s music streaming business was still unprofitable.

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AOL Radio Adds CBS Channels in Do-or-Die Move

iTunes users in Canada and the United Kingdom will now be able to download and rent movies from Apple’s online store. Canadians will be able to choose from over 1,200 films such as “Juno,” “I Am Legend,” and “Cloverfield” from movie studios including 20th Century Fox, Paramount and Sony Pictures. More than 200 of the available titles for rent come in high definition. Those in the UK will have a library of over 700 films, Apple said. The British rental catalog also features over 100 titles available in high definition.

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iTunes Opens Gates to Canadian, UK Movie Buffs