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Movielink debuts

The Web site, a joint project of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal and Warner Bros., will debut Monday with a limited selection of first-run and classic films from the five major motion pictures studios, in a test of the technology to select U.S. residents. Though the film studios have licensed content to other video-on-demand sites, it is the first time they’ve introduced a service of their own.

Movielink ready to roll: “After nearly two years in production, the online movie rental service will debut Monday with a limited selection of first-run and classic films from five major motion pictures studios.” Source: CNET News.com

Movielink vs my Time Warner VOD… Hmmm seems like an easy choice. Watch on my computer (not mine actually since Macs are not supported) or via Cable on my Digital TV with surround. Movielink seems like it will offer about 200 movies to TW’s ~100. Prices are about the same, but the Movielink system will let you keep the movie ffor about a month on your computer.

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Alta Vista again?

Alta Vista has been through many lives in its time. From 1995 into 1996 I recall it being the search engine of choice. Yahoo came on strong in the post-Netscape IPO (not that they didn’t already have a great site) era and won over most of the traffic, creating a new world of the personalized portal. AV tried that and gave it a pretty good go… They could never quite keep up though with the traffic attracted to AOL, Yahoo and MSN. Once Google came on, they officially lost what little they had left. An under promoted venture into quick search, called Raging Search was released to compete with the pure search move, while still trying attract surfers to their portal offering.

My company helped launch the UI, rewards system and all the marketing for the Shopping service within AV in 2000. It is now an affiliate shopping service with Dealtime. At the time, it was widely regarded as a huge success, generating large traffic volumes to earn rewards and shop online. Shortly after the launch, however, AV went through an aborted IPO, lost their CEO and nuked the shopping service, which was the first of the soon to be developed/released personalized services. Game over. From that point, in my humble opinion, AV sank into the abyss… While I can certainly respect another go, it is hard to believe that they will gain any traction given the sheer strength of Google and the even deeper traction and association the surfing public has into their portal of choice.

AltaVista searches for a new image: “The struggling company is trying to recapture its former glory as a search engine heavyweight with a newly redesigned Web site that takes a cue from current search champ Google.” Source: CNET News.com

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Integrating online media

“Integrating online media and interactive marketing with other media and other channels is imperative to reaching the full potential of this medium,” he said. “Taking full advantage of the targeting capabilities of online media as well as its unique contextual opportunities will help us all reach the right audience with the right message.”

Making Online Matter: “At the IAB Leadership Forum, online ad execs grapple with how to weave interactive advertising into traditional advertising campaigns.” Source: internetnews.com: Top News

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We all win.

We all win. RIM certainly can claim some serious victories this week based on their latest licensing agreements. Let’s hope these deals show up in products soon… If RIM is the accepted victor in wireless email and handheld keyboards, our future devices should all be well equipped.

Nokia to license RIM software: “A pact between the two companies completes a licensing trifecta for Research In Motion, which also announced deals with Palm and Handspring this week.” Source: CNET News.com

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Only 4.8 million households…

Only 4.8 million households have digital TVs, and most of those don’t even have digital-broadcast tuners to receive HDTV signals over the airwaves. Customers use the sets to watch DVDs. Nearly half the USA’s 1,300 TV stations beam at least some prime-time shows in crystal-clear HDTV.

HDTV leaps ‘last hurdle’ in transition: “TV makers and cable companies have tentatively reached a landmark agreement aimed at kick-starting the tepid rollout of digital high-definition TV (HDTV) – and eventually eliminating the need for cable set-top boxes, say people close to the matter.” Source: USA Today: Money

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My favorite way to blog

My favorite way to blog into Radio gets better…

new beta: “[A new beta of Archipelago is out. Over 40 changes and fixes including posting without publishing for sites that support this, a rewritten http server, and renamed and organized menus (to hopefully ease the way), and Edit in Archipelago links for one click editing of your blog…” Source: Archipelago

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The changing theater landscape

Major financial buyers were quick to spot an opportunity. In 1998, the average price of a screen stood at $700,000. By 2001, however, it had collapsed to $135,000, and several acquisitions were reportedly completed at well under $100,000 a screen. These acquisitions have concentrated assets in just a few hands (Exhibit 2). Anschutz, Apollo Advisors, Oaktree Capital Management, and Onex are not traditional industry insiders; they are financially savvy buyers that aim to maximize the value of their new assets. That could well mean still more consolidation, perhaps through the swapping of theater assets to create concentrated regional markets. Either way, the studios can bet that the new owners wonÍt hesitate to shake things up to increase their cash flow.

Source : The McKinsey Quarterly

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Spectrum battles are chronic at the FCC

Such spectrum battles are chronic at the FCC. Each of them will give the government a choice: to promote Wi-Fi or to restrain it. Even if the FCC sided with Wi-Fi on all issues of competing use, consumers would still have to reckon with the possibility that the government might protect existing communications services by forcing Wi-Fi to meet regulatory requirements for the security of signals and the quality of service. Actually, meeting these standards would be a laudable goal, but it should be achieved through competition and innovation, not government mandates. Imposing such requirements is a time-tested regulatory way of deterring competition and delaying change.

Source: The McKinsey Quarterly

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Email Marketing to AOL 8.0

Email Marketing to AOL 8.0 Users: “” Source: Drunk Guerilla – Marketing Out of the Cage

Another looming issue for e-mail marketers is AOL 8.0’s new e-mail sorting feature, consisting of a drop-down menu that sorts mail into four categories:

  • People I know: Mail from addresses stored in the user’s address book or buddy list, and mail from AOL.

  • Bulk senders: Mail from commercial mailers who have committed to honor AOL’s e-mail policies.

  • Unknown senders: All other e-mail.

  • Everyone: Includes all of the above, and is the default setting.
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I was pleased to read

I was pleased to read this morning that both Walt Mossberg in the WSJ and David Pogue in the NYT gave the Tablet PC a luke warm reception.

Seems they both agree that it is an expensive semi-effective novelty that will appeal to some vertical markets and gadget freaks, but comes with a host of short comings that will drive you bonkers. David Pogue sums things up perfectly:

Meanwhile, Microsoft faces a tough competitor, the dominant player in the business-meeting note-taking market. It’s a rugged, crashproof portable that accommodates any writing implement, feels just like paper and costs .02 percent of a Tablet PC. If it’s prestige you’re after, you can even tell your friends that it has a fancy name: Windows XP Legal Pad Edition.