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Google News Pulls The AP’s Content As Contract Comes Up For Renewal

1/12/2010 12:12:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , 0 Comments



Through much of last year, the Associated Press threw public barbs and veiled threats at Google, while in private it was renegotiating its licensing agreement with Google News. That agreement is believed to be up for renewal at the end of this month, yet no new AP stories have appeared directly on Google News since December 23, 2009. (AP stories licensed by other news sites such as ABC News or the New York Times do continue to appear, however). So what’s going on here? Is that the end of AP stories on Google News?

I’ve been doing some sniffing around, and it is not the AP that is withholding its content. This conclusion is also supported by the fact that older AP content from before Christmas continues to be available on Google News. If the AP were no longer licensing its articles to Google, those older articles likely would also no longer be available. (The AP has talked about withholding news from certain licensees for a set period of time, but those were measured in minutes and hours, not weeks, and it would operate on a rolling basis. The AP stories on Google News just stop on December 23).

So it appears that Google made a unilateral decision. What’s going on here reminds me of what News Corp does to Time Warner Cable every four years or so when the contract for all the Fox television channels comes up. Fox threatens to pull its channels in a very public manner, and then at the eleventh hour a deal is struck, just like what happened on New Year’s. Google is trying its own Foxy negotiating tactic here. It is showing the AP in a very visible way what will happen if Google News no longer carries AP stories, and they are doing this before the negotiations are up so that the AP can measure the loss in readership that Google News brings.

In the TV world, it’s the content companies such as Fox, which have the negotiating leverage because they bring the audience. It almost seems like Google is trying to prove the opposite is true with online news: that distribution is king, not content. Meanwhile, on Friday, Google News gussied up its home page by adding its Fast Flip project at the bottom (see screenshot below), and is highlighting other newspaper partners with its “Living Stories” project. Whether or not we ever see AP headlines on Google News again depends on which one needs the other one more, and who concedes first in the negotiations.

Which would you rather live without, Google News or the AP?

Sony Ericsson Xperia X2a appears on US site screaming 'I'm coming!'

1/12/2010 12:12:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments



Whoa! After two months of delay Sony Ericsson's finally done something with the Xperia X2 -- giving it an extra 'a' (for North America) instead of pushing it out to us mere mortals. Mind you, the number of times we've seen this thing -- even as a KIRF -- may fool you into thinking it's been out forever, but the reality is it's slowly morphing into a unicorn. You know what though? If we wait for another two months, the X2 / X2a might even get a piece of that Windows Mobile 7 action. Or Windows Mobile 8, when SE's eventually done with its siesta.


Jay Chou’s ‘Pandamen’ airing permit finally granted; confirmed to broadcast on all major television stations in China from January 17th!

1/12/2010 12:11:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments

Beijing Jiu Zhou Culture Communication Co., Ltd, general manager Tian Jing Quan yesterday happily confirmed that Jay Chou’s self-directed drama ‘Pandamen’ will begin broadcasting on all the major television stations in China beginning from January 17th. Last month, Jay had rushed back to Taiwan to re-film some scenes, and less than 2 weeks after that, the airing permit has finally been granted. Rumours suggest that China’s SARFT is giving special treatment to Asia’pop King but yesterday, Tian Jing Quan laughed: “There weren’t really any problems in the first place, some editing was not done smoothly, but now everything is complete, so it’s been approved.”

But it’s also because of the name ‘Jay Chou’ that as soon as the airing permit for ‘Pandamen’ was granted, mainland China’s 8 major television stations and 4 Home Satellite channels immediately tossed their original series broadcast aside, and changed to ‘Pandamen’ as 2010’s biggest drama! From January 17th, Shan Dong, Guang Zhou, Beijing & Shanghai will first broadcast, and then from February 2nd, Jiang Su, Zhe Jiang, Chong Qing & Shen Zhen will then broadcast. The premiere event is set to be on January 28th or 29th. However, Taiwan’s side previously did not want to set a date until the airing permit was granted, and now the broadcast date has temporarily been delayed to April.

Recently, Jay Chou has just finished promoting his film ‘The Treasure Hunter’, and his Hollywood film ‘The Green Hornet’ has also wrapped up. Currently, he is busy preparing for his new album. JVR expressed that ‘Pandamen’ means very much to Jay, and so he will definitely co-operate with all promotional activities. Yesterday, Tian Jing Quan also expressed that ‘Pandamen’ total costs are estimated to be $25million rmb (NT$1200million). It is the cross-strait (China & Taiwan) collaboration drama with the highest production costs to date, and there will definitely be grand premiere events!

Nokia N900 gets first software update, but don't expect much

1/12/2010 12:11:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments



Nokia has announced that it has started pushing the N900's very first post-launch update, but apparently it's not anything crazy like Maemo 6 (yeah, we know it's not even close to ready, but you know you want it) or system-wide portrait orientation support -- instead, it's just a minor bump designed to prepare the set for the upcoming launch of the Maemo-flavored Ovi Store. That's great news for anyone looking for a more unified way to get paid apps on the phone, a significant step towards making Maemo a more consumer-friendly platform than it is at the present. Look for the update to be available globally within the next day or so, both over-the-air and via Nokia Software Update on your desktop.

Update: We're being told that the Ovi Store's now accessible from the device at store.ovi.mobi -- anyone care to share stories of success or failure? Thanks, Matija!

Microsoft's Bach says 'there are other places where Zune logically could go'

1/12/2010 12:11:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , 0 Comments

So that meeting a few days ago where financial analysts physically beat a few choice WinMo 7 nuggets out of Robbie Bach yielded something else that's pretty interesting, too: the expansion of the Zune franchise. Virtually everyone and their mother has been calling for a Zunephone since the day the first Zune 30 rolled off the assembly line, and a very, very carefully-worded statement by Bach in the meeting has us believing that we could finally see it make the bold leap to GSM (or CDMA, or both) this year. In response to a question about how Zune fits into Microsoft's mobile strategy, Bach had this to say:

"Now, your other question was about I'm getting old. Zune, so Zune has been critically successful. And the way Zune is going to be successful for us in the future is you should think of that as our media service across multiple screens. We'll continue to have the Zune device screen. But, we now have Zune on Xbox. We have Zune on the PC. There are other places where Zune logically could go that we don't get to talk about yet. And I think lots of different screens with that capability can go."

If you read between the lines there, it certainly sounds like Robbie's got his eyes on the prize -- but whether Zune will come to Windows Mobile or live as its own brand remains to be seen. No guarantees, but we're hoping all will be revealed at MWC next month.

Could A Tablet Replace Your Notebook?

1/12/2010 12:10:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , 0 Comments

Hardware vendors at last week's Consumer Electronics Show showed off numerous new tablet and notebook designs. Some offerings, including the Lenovo Skylight Smartbook, earned cheers. Others -- yeah, we're looking at you, Microsoft-HP tablet -- heard mostly jeers. Apple wasn't at CES, of course, but the neverending rumor mill assures us that Steve Jobs's bound-to-be-cool tablet will debut by the end of this month.

All the CES hardware chatter led me to wonder if a tablet/slate would work as a suitable notebook replacement. For many consumers, particularly those who use a standard laptop -- or maybe a netbook -- primarily for e-mail and Web browsing, the answer may be yes.

This depends, of course, on the capabilities of said tablet. As last week's CES announcements indicate, the tablet remains a nebulous category. The Lenovo Ideapad U1 hybrid, with its removable display, is both tablet and notebook, as is the not-quite-ready Freescale Semiconductors tablet. And Asus displayed a two-screen tablet prototype that unfolds into one large OLED display.

Notebooks? Well, we know one when we see one -- unless, of course, you're referring to the Lenovo and Freescale hybrids, in which case things are a little less clear. But for sake of argument, let's define the laptop/notebook device as one with a physical (QWERTY) keyboard attached to a flat-panel display. Yes, I'm including netbooks, which are really just tiny notebooks, in this genre too.

Could You Go Tablet?

Many people hate the QWERTY keyboard, a 19th-century relic that somehow survived the transition to the digital age. After decades of use, I'm a decent touch typist, but millions of computer users -- the two-fingered tappers -- yearn for something better.

If you use a physical keyboard only to tap out short e-mail messages, Twitter or Facebook posts, and other quick text blurbs, you may be ready to deep-six QWERTY. But what should take its place?

Ideally, tablets need excellent handwriting or voice recognition to garner mainstream acceptance, but we're years away from data input that mirrors Star Trek-style simplicity. That said, a mobile professional may prefer today's tablets to complete online forms, browse the Web, and send quick messages.

Students? There's a market segment that could really benefit from fast, accurate handwriting recognition. Voice imput wouldn't work in the classroom. For now, a laptop is the better choice. Plus, students tend to write a lot of papers, and the QWERTY keyboard is the best choice for long-form writing. (Sure, cut-and-paste plagiarism works well too, but that's another story.)

A tablet may have ergonomic drawbacks, too. When you're sitting at a desk, a notebook is more ergonomic than a slate-like device that must be held or cradled. And touch input can be tiring when you're holding your arm in an elevated position for hours at a time.

It's doubtful that tablets will replace laptops anytime soon. They likely replace standalone e-readers, however, as tablet prices start to fall.

Ellen Reacts To Simon Cowell’s Departure From “American Idol”

1/12/2010 12:10:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , , 0 Comments

First Oprah, now Simon! Sharp-tongued British mogul Simon Cowell is leaving American Idol – marking the end of an era for throngs of TV talent show fans. But none more than Idol newcomer Ellen DeGeneres. The Emmy-winning daytime host-turned-A.I. -judge began filming scenes for American Idol Monday — the same day Simon announced he’s leaving the show!


“He announced he’s leaving on my first day. I’m trying not to take it personally. But seriously, I am going to be very, very sad to see him go, because I think he’s made the show what it is,” DeGeneres told her studio audience on The Ellen DeGeneres Show today. “He’s a huge part of that show but he wanted a change. I wish him all the luck in the world hosting ‘The Tonight Show,’” she joked.

Simon Cowell Confirms He's Leaving American Idol

1/12/2010 12:09:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , , 0 Comments

Simon Cowell is leaving American Idol.

No, really. It's official now and everything.

Simon just told reporters at the TV Critics Assocation winter press tour:

"There's been a lot of speculation [about my future], partly because we didn't have an agreement. We reached an agreement formally about half past 11 this morning. Where we have come to is that The X Factor will launch in America in 2011, with me judging the show and executive producing the show, and because of that, this will be my last season on American Idol this year."

Cowell then signed his X Factor contract live onstage at the TV event in Pasadena. So why is he leaving, who might replace him and what's this about joining forces with Paula Abdul? Here's what we just learned from Cowell himself and his bosses at Fox...

First things first, The X Factor is a British-format reality talent competition produced and developed by...Simon Cowell! There are 17 international versions. It's not unlike American Idol or its British counterpart Pop Idol, but contestants of all ages are welcome, and the judges also do some mentoring as well as just critiquing. So what kind of stars are they trying to find? Simon says, "Right now, Lady Gaga's got the biggest X factor in the world. We'd love to find somebody like her." The X Factor will air in the fall, while Idol will continue airing in the spring.

That's in Simon Cowell's future, but what about his past and present on American Idol? "I've always said this was my last year," Simon told us. "Everyone thought I was negotiating, but that wasn't the reason behind it. I felt like doing something different. I like the challenge. I want to leave Idol this year, bigger and better than it’s been before...I hope it's going to be higher than it was last year."

He says he's leaving now while the show remains on top: "I've had the best eight or nine years of my life doing this job...I never would have wanted to walk out when the show was number 21 in the ratings. I wanted to leave on a high. It's been a fantastic time.. I think right now America needs a second, different type of show, and I'm going to put my absolute heart and soul into this."

So who might take Simon's chair at the Idol judging table? Cowell's take is this: "I'm going to suggest that Ryan [Seacrest] does it, because he can have another job then—so he just jumps off the stage into the chair and back again...I say just get somebody who knows what they're talking about."

Fox entertainment chairman Peter Rice took a more serious approach to the question, but didn't actually profer any substantial names: "The reason we're making the announcement in January is we want to give ourselves time. We want to allow people to come forward, we were frankly surprised at the enthusiasm in replacing Paula [Abdul]—and when we we first started our conversations with Ellen [DeGeneres]. We have to take our time on that, we have to make sure the chemistry is as good as it can be, we want to take our time."

Speaking of Paula, it's entirely possible that Simon will ask the daffy popster to join forces with him on his new project. When asked whether or not Paula Abdul might be involved in The X Factor in some capacity, Simon said: "I adore Paula...I will work with her in some capacity...because I miss her."

For his part, Seacrest tweeted this afternoon, "this is simon's last season on idol. He's working on US version of x-factor! He is one of the most brilliant people in our biz! Congrats" and then, "i'm gonna interview simon tomorrow on the radio show...will ask him if @paulaabdul will be on x-factor. I'll link u guys audio after." (We'll be waiting!)

Meanwhile, Ellen DeGeneres addressed Simon's exit on the episode of her talk show airing Tuesday, saying, "I got some news for you. So this just happened, Simon Cowell just announced that he's leaving Idol. This will be his last season...He announced he's leaving on my first day. I'm trying not to take it personally...But seriously, I am going to be very, very sad to see him go, because I think he's made the show what it is. He's a huge part of that show, but he wanted a change...I wish him all the luck in the world hosting The Tonight Show." Nice.

So do you think Simon Cowell is replaceable? Will you watch Idol sans Simon?

Nick Jonas Covers Taylor Swift “You Belong With Me”

1/12/2010 12:08:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments

Good to know that Taylor’s still pals with at least one JoBro. Nick Jonas gave a shoutout to the country charttopper and performed a verse of her hit single, “You Belong With Me,” during a performance on the Nick Jonas & The Administration Tour last weekend.

In Nov. 2008, Taylor wrote a diss track following her split from Nick’s older brother, Joe, who allegedly dumped Taylor in a two-minute phone call.

“Rita Rocks” Cancelled; “Glee” Renewed

1/12/2010 12:08:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , 0 Comments

Rita will no longer be “rockin’” on Lifetime. The Network for Women has cancelled Rita Rocks — a quirky comedy featuring Nicole Sullivan — after two seasons, The Hollywood Reporter said Monday.



Rita, which starred the Mad TV alum as a mom who launches her own garage band, premiered to solid ratings in Oct. 2008, with 1 million viewers tuning in for the show’s debut episode. It was Lifetime’s first original comedy series in over 10 years. However, ratings fell significantly in its second season, with the Oct. 13 season finale attracting just 489,000 viewers, according to Futon Critic.

“Glee” Renewed For Second Season; Nationwide Talent Search Kicks Off For New Stars

Gleeks rejoice! FOX has ordered a second season of its hit musical comedy, Glee, network entertainment president Kevin Reilly announced on Monday.

“We loved ‘Glee’ ever since it was a pilot script, so it’s been an incredible thrill to watch the show take root and see audiences embrace these characters in such a huge way this season,” Reilly, said in a statement. “The show is a true and rare gem in television.”



Glee focuses on a group of high school misfits who are marching to the beats of the drums by trying to revive the school’s glee club. The show is up for four awards at this weekend’s Golden Globes including Best Actor in a Comedy Series for Matthew Morrison, and Best Actress in a Comedy Series for Lea Michele.

In addition to the renewal news, Glee executive producers are holding a nationwide casting call to fill three new roles that will be added to the series in its second season. The casting search will air as a multi-part special leading up to the premiere of season two.

“’Glee’ has always been about finding new fresh exciting voices. Our second season search for young talent will be in the vein of our first season. We launched a nationwide search for talent for our first season with great unexpected results, and Season Two expands that search in an even bigger way,” said executive producer and creator Ryan Murphy.

Auditions will be open to “amateur individuals,” between the ages of 16 and 26. For more details, log on to www.fox.com/glee.

All-new episodes of Glee return April 13 @ 9 PM on FOX.

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