A couple of weeks ago we talked about how CBS' new online strategy was to partner with as many Web 2.0 sites as possible and spread their content around. Today, CBS seems to have deviated from that plan by announcing that they will pay $280m in an all cash deal to purchase music social network Last.fm.
This is the largest Web 2.0 acquisition in the United Kingdom ever, according to the BBC. Last.fm, which is five years old and earlier this year added a video component to its site, has about 15 million active users. Last.fm said they have been approached multiple times in the past about acquisition, but decided CBS' offer was the right one at the right time.
Microsoft just announced a very cool new multi-touch computing product, called Surface. At first the rumors were this would be an iPhone competitor, but it's clear now that it's much larger (30-inch display!) and more of an environmental computer device. Using the product, people can interact with information using touch, natural gestures and physical objects. So no mouse or keyboard is required. From the press release:
"Surface turns an ordinary tabletop into a vibrant, dynamic surface that provides effortless interaction with all forms of digital content through natural gestures, touch and physical objects. Beginning at the end of this year, consumers will be able to interact with Surface in hotels, retail establishments, restaurants and public entertainment venues."
Update to Microsoft story: news has just come out about the product described below, officially named Surface. It's a lot bigger than the iPhone, but uses similar multi-touch technology. Here is the press release and here is our write-up.
(original story) Our sister site last100 reports on the imminent unveiling of Microsoft’s multi-touch technology — code-named ‘PlayTable’ — which could prove to be the company’s answer to the iPhone. Also known as the Milan Project, the technology is designed to “allow users to navigate and manipulate data inside a browser or application using gestures”, says Mary Jo Foley. “Think pinches, pushes, waves, etc”. Even more intriguing is that the announcement could come as early as tomorrow, when Bill Gates is set to take the stage with his old rival, Apple CEO Steve Jobs, at the Wall Street Journal’s D: All Things Digital conference.
Egnyte is a collaborative document sharing app that hopes to make inroads on the growing Web Office space. It's kind of like a mix between an online storage solution (such as Omnidrive or ElephantDrive) and a content management solution. In enterprise speak, essentially it's a knowledge management application. The company started in January 2006 and launched the Egnyte private beta in May/June '06. It launched its public beta around the time of Web 2.0 Expo, in April 2007.
Egnyte downplays the online storage aspects on its homepage, where the noted features are "sharing, automatic organization and a powerful search capability". Another feature is that Egnyte synchronizes the files on your desktop with those on the web (in the Egnyte app). So let's explore more what Egynte is and why people might use it.
As you may recall, Alternative Search Engine (ASE) AfterVote (AV) was the Search Engine of the Month in April (posted May 01, 2007). AfterVote is run by three guys who also have days jobs; and no VC funding. I presented it is a good example of just how much innovation is possible in these alternative search engines. Well, since that story, AfterVote has continued to add features to their product, and they gave me a sneak peek at what they will be rolling out soon.
Not to be left behind, Google announced their own bit of mapping news at O'Reilly's Where 2.0 conference today: the debut of 'Street View' maps. The new maps are essentially a 360 panoramic image taken from a specific point on the street (see an example here).
The Street View maps are developed in partnership with Immersive Media, which according to the O'Reilly Radar blog is "a company that has an eleven lens camera capable of taking full, high-res video while driving along city streets." What that means is that these Street View maps, because they are extracted from video shot while driving, are not just static images at random points around the city. They can be advanced fluidly down the street.
There were two developments in the 3D mapping space today. First Microsoft finally launched the 3D version of New York City as part of an expansion of its Virtual Earth maps. Second, Massachusetts-based start up EveryScape launched a technology demo showcasing their own (sort of) 3D map service, which uses interactive, panoramic photographs mashed up with Google Maps.
Microsoft's new 3D maps debuted today with nine new cities: New York (NY), Austin (TX), Cape Coral (FL), Cincinnati (OH), Indianapolis (IN), Northampton (UK), Ottawa (CAN), Savannah (GA), and Tampa (FL). The most notable, of course, being the long-awaited addition of New York City. Microsoft intends to add more cities throughout the summer.
By Dr. Riza C. Berkan, Founder & CEO, hakia.com
Editor's Note: This is a guest post by the CEO of Hakia, Dr Riza C. Berkan. I want to stress that this post is NOT an advertorial - in fact I made it a condition of publication that the post should focus on the theory of semantic search and it should mention Hakia's competition, both of which Dr Berkan has done. I should also mention that while Hakia ads sometimes appear on this site, they are managed separately by FM Publishing. In any case the reason for this post by Dr Berkan is purely to explore the topic of semantic search and try to get a conversation going. Semantic search is seen as one of the next-generation search methods that may challenge Google, so the idea with this post is to understand it better - and perhaps debate its future in the comments.
How satisfied search engine users are today is an on-going debate. However, there is wide consensus, from a scientific viewpoint on the competency of the current search engines: They are half-way to the target and there is huge room for improvement. Semantic search is now under the magnifying glass and the question is "can semantic search be an antidote for poor relevancy?"
Editor's Note: This post was written by Ross Dawson, CEO of Advanced Human Technologies and Chairman of Future Exploration Network. Ross is holding a Web 2.0 event in Sydney, Australia on June 6, which I will be a speaker at. In preparation for the conference, Ross has produced this amazing list of Top Aussie Web Apps. Almost as amazingly, I personally know people from all of the top 9 companies in this list, mainly because they all seem to be in Silicon Valley at the same time as me ;-) Which is to say, hanging out at Web 2.0 conferences and infiltrating Mike Arrington's house. Australians are a resourceful lot! Indeed, note that Ross almost tries to claim a New Zealand company below (Eurekster), but he admitted it was kiwi in the end... well the technology anyway! Remember Split Enz? :-) Kiwi band claimed by Australians as their own. Anyway, I digress. Here is Ross' excellent post -- enjoy!
At Future Exploration Network's Web 2.0 in Australia event on June 6, we are including a showcase of the top five examples of Web 2.0 coming out of this glorious country. Identifying who we wanted to invite to the showcase proved a marvelous opportunity to take a good look at what's out there in the world of Web 2.0. The result is the following list of Australia's Top 60 Web 2.0 applications.
In developing news, the NY Times is reporting that The Federal Trade Commission has "opened a preliminary antitrust investigation into Google's planned $3.1 billion purchase of the online advertising company DoubleClick". Ironically two of the companies that called for this were Microsoft and AT&T, both of whom have colorful histories battling antitrust suits. According to the NYT:
"Within a few weeks, perhaps within days, the F.T.C. will decide whether to escalate its investigation into the Google deal, antitrust experts say. That step, known as a "second request" for information, would suggest that the proposed acquisition raises more serious antitrust issues.
Google said it was confident that the deal would withstand scrutiny."
