Archives for March 2010

Sony Feels the iPad Heat, Lowers Price of its E-Reader

March 23, 2010 Leave a Comment

Over at 901am, I’ve been covering some hot news about the Apple iPad which as you all know by now is about to be released on April 3. Lately, the iPad has been getting some news mileage with emphasis mostly on how good the iPad would be as an e-book reader. Yes, that’s despite the fact that it was not made solely for the purpose of reading e-books.

But then, it’s inevitable especially since Apple is also prepping up its own e-bookstore of sorts, the iBookstore app. Once the iPads land on the hands of those who pre-ordered since two weeks ago, I’m pretty sure e-book distributors will start pouring in.

So, if you’re Sony who has an e-book reader which is not really doing well, what would be your best move to compete with the likes of the iPad and Kindle? Of course, reduce the price of your e-book reader to make it more competitive.

And that’s what Sony just did – lowered the price of its basic e-book reader the Sony Pocket Reader from $199 to $169. That puts the Pocket Reader at $90 cheaper than the least expensive model of the Kindle. And of course way cheaper than the iPad which is currently selling for $499 for the cheapest version.

Actually this was predicted by Forrester analyst James McQuivey – that is single purpose e-reader device such as the Pocket Reader will have a price drop of as low as $99 by next year. This is to make these device competitive enough against multi-purpose devices such as the iPad.

So, are you most likely to get the Sony Pocket Reader instead of the iPad or Kindle now?

TV is Not Dead! Americans are Still Using it Together with Internet and Mobile Phones

March 23, 2010 Leave a Comment

Here’s a rather surprising findings by Nielsen which debunks the myth that TV is on its way to extinction in favor of the Internet and mobile phones. According to Nielsen’s report, Americans have in fact increased their overall media usage and media multitasking activities by using TV simultaneously as they connect to the Internet and use their mobile phones.

The Nielsen report called “Three Screen Report” tracks consumption across TV, Internet and mobile phones. The report showed that in the last quarter of 2009, TV consumption and Internet use combined have reached three and a half hours monthly. This is a 35% growth from the third quarter of 2009. In addition, 60% of TV viewers are watching TV while using the Internet at the same time.

Nielsen Company media product leader Matt O’Grady says that using the Internet while watching TV have given TV viewers a unique on-screen and off-screen relation with TV programming.

“The initial fear was that Internet and mobile video and entertainment would slowly cannibalize traditional TV viewing, but the steady trend of increased TV viewership alongside expanded simultaneous usage argues something quite different,” said O’Grady.

The study also found that on the average, Americans watched 35 hours of TV per week and two hours of timeshifted TV via DVR. This is attributed to the fact that DVR provides them with added convenience. At the same time the growth of HD programming and flatscreen TVs have also contributed the renewed interest with watching TV programs. The availability of more channels and choices due to digital delivery be it via cable or satellite are also contributing factors.

Other findings of the study include – increase in online video consumption as well as increase in the active mobile video users courtesy of the booming smartphone market.

ChaCha Adds Social Dimension to its Q&A Service

March 22, 2010 Leave a Comment

I’m not really sure whether you have heard or at the most used ChaCha.com, a question and answer service that provides quick, accurate answers to millions of question everyday. Regardless, you might be interested to know that the online Q&A service is adding some social aspects to its service by launching the new ChaCha.me social platform.

The ChaCha.me platform allows you to build a profile. But once your profile is up, practically all those who’ve created their own profiles as well can start asking you various questions. Likewise, you are free to ask questions to them too. It’s like building a social network based on the Q&A format.

To kick off its launch, ChaCha.me is featuring David Guetta who recently won a Grammy Award and currently has two songs on the Billboard Top 50. Guetta will be among the first celebrities who will be featured on ChaCha.me. Once on the featured page, fans can ask questions and hopefully get answers from celebrities.

In addition, ChaCha.me will soon be making its way on mobile platforms, specifically on iPhone and Droid handsets. An SMS functionality is also being planned.

ChaCha’s CEO Steve Jones has this to say about the launch of ChaCha.me:

“One of the most fundamentally appealing qualities of social sites like Twitter and Facebook is the notion that people care about what celebrities and friends are doing and sharing. ChaCha.me provides this forum for users, but also takes it to the next level with intimate Q&A interaction. These ChaCha.me answers may flow into ChaCha’s broad database so that those who are asking for answers from ChaCha will receive, in effect, certified answers directly. For example, ChaCha will now be able to return certain answers about David Guetta, directly from David himself,” said Mr. Jones.