By several measures, the state of the American news media improved in 2010.
After two dreadful years, most sectors of the industry saw revenue begin to recover. With some notable exceptions, cutbacks in newsrooms eased. And while still more talk than action, some experiments with new revenue models began to show signs of blossoming.
Microsoft is not planning on releasing any further Zune devices. Instead, the company plans to focus on Zune software for smartphones.
Microsoft declined to comment on the future of the Zune players, but in a statement to Bloomberg noted that it remains “committed to supporting our devices in North America.”
Zune launched in November 2006 to much fanfare and hopes that it could beat Apple’s iPod. But sales never came close to reaching the levels of Apple’s best-selling and market changing music and media player…
Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist, has embarked on a new endeavor: craigconnect, a site that harnesses the power of the Internet to aid nonprofits organizations…
In the summer of 2010, Foursquare’s Head of Business Development Tristan Walker and American Express’s Vice President of Global Marketing Capabilities David Wolf started talking about ways to work together to redefine loyalty for local merchants.
The fruit of their conversations is now on display in the city Austin, Texas where 60 merchants — including Whole Foods, Starwood Hotels and Stubb’s BBQ — are offering Foursquare users “spend $5, save $5″ rewards when they load the special and swipe their AmEx cards.
The pilot program started Friday and will run through Tuesday, March 15. Participating merchants have posted “Austin Unlocked” window clings to highlight their participation, and Foursquare users need only register their American Express cards to unlock this new type of special — the Loyalty Special…
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. is mulling a $100 cap to help combat new rules.
Banks discussing limiting caps on debit-card transaction sizes may have a standard bearer in J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., which is mulling a $100 cap to help combat new rules.
New jobs that are being created pay less and offer fewer work hours than the ones they have replaced.
When it comes to jobs, it’s not just quantity that matters–it’s also quality. It’s great news that the economy is finally producing jobs again–even if it’ll take another few years of this kind of growth to get us back to where we were before the Great Recession. But that also means it’s now time to ask what kind of jobs are being created. And on that front, things are a lot less encouraging.
In February, world food prices reached the highest level on record. Soaring food prices are already a source of spreading hunger and political unrest, and it appears likely that they will climb further in the months ahead…
Children may be raiding their parents credit cards.
Apple has changed its policy for in-app purchases to prevent users, especially children, from accidentally purchasing virtual goods.
Previously, consumers have been able to make an unlimited number of purchases without entering a password for 15 minutes after a change was made using a password. Parents complained that this policy made it easy for their children to incur huge iTunes charges without understanding that they were spending money or asking for parental permission…
Warner Brothers will rent “The Dark Knight” to American users over Facebook for the equivalent of $3 in Facebook’s currency.
Warner Brothers became the first major media company to offer a movie for rent on Facebook, a move that could position the social network to become a force in the digital distribution of movies, rivaling services like Netflix and iTunes.
Stall Duft is a small can filled with the smell of an old wooden stable full of gas-producing cows. This thing is actually for sale in Germany and Austria, and the strangest part is that it’s a success…