Tech Jott / Nuevas Tecnologías

MySpace was once one of the most popular social networking sites, and sites in general, but has seen a sharp decline in its popularity over the past two years, particularly in the last year.

News Corp., which owns MySpace, says that the site has had a lack of revenue and lost $150 million dollars this year, in addition to the $88 million lost this time last year.

Although the site still experiences large numbers of visits, there is a lack of advertisers that are still willing to pay to have their ads on the site.

When News Corp. purchased MySpace, they mostly left the site alone because of criticism from users, a move that some now see as a reason for the decline of the site. MySpace stayed the same and members went to other sites, such as Twitter and Facebook, to fill those needs.

News Corp. now plans to change MySpace to respark interest in the site. The future of MySpace is uncertain, especially considering the increasingly dwindling advertising dollars coming into the site. In the wars of the social networking sites, MySpace has quite a ways to go before it can reclaim its top spot again.

Warner Bros. has been offering the service, called DVD2Blu, for a few months now, but has recently lowered the price to as little as $4.95 for some movie titles. The company is lowering its prices as an incentive for new Blu Ray consumers to purchase a Blu Ray player and upgrade their previous DVD collection.

Warner Bros. allows consumers to upgrade their DVD’s to Blu Ray discs, which are of much higher quality than DVD discs. The only problem, however, is that Warner Bros. has increased the minimum order from $10 to $35 in order for the order to be eligible for free shipping. Although the price decrease in upgrading DVD’s might be an incentive for some, the minimum order of $35 for free shipping might have some shying away from the program.

With Blu Ray players and discs leading the way for the past couple of years, Warner Bros. is taking the right steps in making sure that DVD consumers make the switch to Blu Ray.

The DVD2Blu program from Warner Bros. now offers 87 titles that can be upgraded from DVD to Blu Ray. For more information on the trading program, visit http://www.dvd2blu.com/.

Yahoo! has released a new marketing ad that blatanly attacks Google, allegedly spending between $75-85 million on the one minute spot. The latest ad is just another in a line of ads that attacks the search engine service; this latest one accuses Google of being impersonal and a dead end for users.

Yahoo!’s latest ads places pride in the Yahoo! homepage as a destination for email, finance, news, entertainment and communication. The two services have been longtime rivals and vie for a worldwide market of users, the latest ad is just one of many that seeks to attract users that want more out of their search engines. In recent months, both search engines have expanded their services to included chat, videochat, email and remote conferencing.

Here is Yahoo!’s latest ad…

Xbox focuses on video instead of gaming.

The Microsoft Xbox began as a gaming machine that became immensely popular for its graphics, user friendliness and wide range of video game options. Over the years, however, Microsoft has quietly been shifting its focus from video games to video programming instead. The Xbox already has programming that has proven to be popular among its users, but it is now in talks with companies such as Disney to provide new content for its users. The content could come in the form of a subscription service for content such as live sporting event streaming from ESPN.

The Xbox has already seen a colossal shift from video game to internet and video based activities among its users. Users have been able to browse the internet, visit sites like Facebook, stream movies and television shows for quite awhile now, they have even been able to watch Netflix’s movies from their Xbox for a fee.

The negotiations in place with Hollywood studios are a new step for the company, the model could prove to be successful with television shows and live streaming of sports events. The future for the Xbox and similar consoles like the Nintendo Wii (which recently got the addition of Netflix as well) seems to be bright with the integration of video games and television/movie entertainment.

iPad slowly taking over notebook market.

The iPad has already sold over a million units since its release in early April, as predicted. But surveys are now looking at the iPad as a threat to other notebooks on the market, including Apple’s own MacBooks. The iPad provides a portion of the features of the much larger Macbook and other notebooks, so people are now looking to the iPad as a viable replacement. Since the beginning of 2010, the iPad has had a large impact on the portable computer market; sales have been down since the beginning of the year in anticipation for the iPad’s release.

The survey shows that 44 percent of those who have purchased the iPad would not buy a notebook, 24 percent would not buy a MacBook, and 20 percent would not purchase a PC. This survey is based on the first generation iPad which has been criticized for its lack of features, including lack of Flash compatibility, lack of WiFi and lack of a camera. With newer models being rolled out as we speak (with WiFi and 3G), and more coming in the near future, the future of notebooks seems uncertain. It does, however, seem contradictory that Apple is hurting its own products (MacBooks) with the release of their iPad.

Facebook Privacy Concerns.

It seems that every day there is a new feature on the popular social network site, Facebook. These new features have been raising a lot of questions and concerns about users’ privacy. The latest feature adds applications to a user’s profile, without their knowledge. These applications are added based on sites that a user visits outside of Facebook, without any notification or easy way to get rid of it. One of the problems with this is that it is unclear what information Facebook and these applications are sharing with each other. In addition, when you go to one of your friends’ application pages, you can take a peek at their browsing habits and what they look at online. This is only the latest concern raised over the privacy associated with Facebook, time will tell if it will be detrimental to the popularity of the site.

2010: The Year of 3D Television?

With the massive success of 3D films over the past 18 months, it’s no wonder that 3D television sets and cable channels are in the process of hitting the market. There are already a few 3D television sets on the market, at a high price tag. The question is, however, will these 3D television sets and channels be a hit with mainstream viewers?
The concerns over 3D television sets are not without validation; many are concerned over the cost of new television sets (on the heels of the HD television frenzy of the past few years), and the awkwardness of having to wear 3D glasses at home.

Companies such as Samsung and LG have already rolled out, or are planning on rolling out, 3D television sets this year, to an uncertain market. Samsung is convinced that anywhere from 10-14% of television sets this year will be 3D-capable.

There are plans for a 3D version of the Blu-Ray player and companies such as Disney and Discovery have announced plans to roll out 3D programming for the first time.

With much anticipation and investment in the 3D market, consumers demand will determine whether it ultimately fails or succeeds. HD television sets took a couple of years to take off, it’s only a matter of time before we see whether 3D television sets and at-home 3D programming take off in the same way.

AT&T has the most dropped calls, says new survey.

A survey that was recently conducted shows that AT&T has the most dropped calls from the four major wireless networks in the United States, including T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint/Nextel and AT&T. This survey comes at a time when AT&T announced that it has improved and will continue to improve its wireless network for its users.

The survey was conducted on 4,040 users in March showed that 4.5 percent of calls on the AT&T wireless network were dropped. The next wireless network with the highest rate was T-Mobile with 2.8 percent, followed by Sprint/Nextel with 2.4 percent. The wireless network with the least dropped calls was Verizon with 1.5 percent.

This is particularly shocking considering that the most popular phone on the market, the iPhone, is exclusive to AT&T. With so many AT&T users locked into contracts because of their dedication to the iPhone, it’s a bit surprising that the wireless network continues to allow their network to be subpar. The rumors that the iPhone might be available for Verizon in the near future might signal trouble for AT&T and its grip on iPhone users.

In February 2010, Skype and Verizon Wireless announced a strategic relationship that will see Verizon Wireless smartphones equipped with Skype software in March 2010. The Skype software will make it easier for Verizon Wireless subscribers to communicator with friends and family throughout the world via their smartphones. On the other side, Skype users will be able to keep in contact with their friends and family in the United States that use Verizon Wireless service.

The Skype mobile service is especially made for 3G smartphones with data plans. Some of the things that users can take advantage of are making and receiving unlimited Skype-to-Skype voice calls with users around the world, lower international calling rates to international phone numbers and sending and receiving instant messages with other Skype users.

John Stratton, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Verizon Wireless, said, “Skype mobile on Verizon Wireless changes the game. For Verizon Wireless’ more than 90 million customers, Skype mobile adds great value because we’re effectively giving customers with smartphones and data plans the option to extend their unlimited calling community to hundreds of millions of Skype users around the globe. And you’re not limited to using a single type of phone; we’ll have nine smartphones ready right at launch in March.”

This partnership will help Skype and Verizon Wireless users keep in touch with people around the world without a computer. Families can stay in touch with each other no matter if they are in the United States and Latin America, the United States and Australia, the United States and Asia or anywhere else in the world. This partnership will help international communication advance to the next level, we’ll have to see if other wireless providers follow suit.

Ford Sync, the in-car and communication service developed by Ford Motor Co., will be adding the ability to update Twitter and stream internet radio to its already impresive list of features.

The company claims that the voice-activated service is safer for drivers than figiting with cellular phones for the same features.

Alan Mulally, the CEO of Ford Motor Co., claims that the service is designed for drivers to chat with their family, update their social networking sites and stream music “all while keeping their eyes on the road and their hands on the wheel.”

Although the company is seeking to make driving safer, it, along with other car companies with similar goals, are being criticized because some believe that these technologies are actuallly making driving more distractful for drivers.

In addition to the Sync services, developed by Microsoft, Ford plans on having an LCD dashboard and WiFi in 80% of their cars within the next five years; the dashboard, called MyFord Touch, will allow drivers to control their cars temperature settings and audio.

Ford Motor Co. is also in talks with Google to have their services integrate with the Sync and MyFord Touch in the next couple of years.

The future for technology in cars seems to be heading for a technological overload, but it remains to be seen whether all these new developments will prove to be beneficial or detrimental to drivers. For now, however, drivers continue to gobble up these new technlogical advances and look forward to the upcoming releases for their cars.