Big Brother

In Yet Another Content Hook-Up, AOL Strikes Deal With Endemol

Kara Swisher in News on January 12, 2011 at 9:10 am PT

AOL’s strategy to partner with third-party content creators for original programming–especially premium video content–keeps ticking, with another programming partnership with Endemol USA. The New York-based Internet company said it would “co-develop and co-produce new Web programming initially aimed at AOL’s growing women’s audience” with Endemol, makers of such fine television shows as “Jerseylicious.”

New From Google Labs: Google Prosthetic Brain

John Paczkowski in News on August 16, 2010 at 4:12 pm PT

If it has become clichéd to compare Google’s efforts to organize the world’s information and Big Brother’s efforts to control it, blame Eric Schmidt. The Google CEO is evidently on a one-man crusade to make it a truism. Discussing the company’s ambitions in the search business, where it now holds a de facto monopoly, Schmidt said the next frontier is to provide us with information that we didn’t know we wanted to know.

Hulu Makes Its First Move Outside the U.S., Courtesy of a Reality Show You Don’t Know

Peter Kafka in Media on December 18, 2009 at 3:00 am PT

Hulu is a big hit in the U.S. But even though the video site has spent a year trying to gain a foothold in other countries, you still can’t see it anywhere else. This should change early next year, but in the most limited way. Hulu plans to let users in the U.K., and most likely, other countries, access its U.S. site to watch a single show: The made-for-the-Web reality series, “If I Can Dream.”

Voices

Chicago's Camera Network Is Everywhere

William M. Bulkeley, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on November 17, 2009 at 5:00 am PT

A giant web of video-surveillance cameras has spread across Chicago, aiding police in the pursuit of criminals but raising fears that the City of Big Shoulders is becoming the City of Big Brother. While many police forces are boosting video monitoring, video-surveillance experts believe Chicago has gone further than any other U.S. city in merging computer and video technology to police the streets.

Live From Redmond: Microsoft's He-Man Ballmer Says to Stop Kicking Sand at Yahoo! (Also, He's Counting Apples!)

Kara Swisher in News on July 30, 2009 at 10:08 am PT

First up at Microsoft’s Financial Analyst Meeting today, as you might imagine, is CEO Steve Ballmer, who is as bouncy and braggy as I have ever seen him, probably because he is fresh from getting his mitts on a long-sought-after prize–the search business of Yahoo. But, while Wall Street thinks Microsoft made out well in the deal, the opinion about Yahoo’s side of the deal has been not so positive, with its shares down another five percent today already, after plummeting 12 percent yesterday. Thus, Ballmer to the rescue! “This is the one that stuns me, that people haven’t figured it out,” said Ballmer. “It’s sort of, like, unbelievable.”

Voices

Metacafe Adds a Hub for TV

Andrew LaVallee, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on June 9, 2009 at 4:45 pm PT

Metacafe, seeking to reach more “media-snacking” consumers, is launching a section of its video site devoted to short clips from “Nurse Jackie,” “Weeds,” “Big Brother” and other television shows. The Palo Alto, Calif., company, which is funded by Highland Capital Partners and DAG Ventures, focuses on what it sees as a middle ground between YouTube and Hulu — short-form videos that are professionally produced or poised to go viral — said its chief executive, Erick Hachenburg, a former Electronics Arts executive.

Tracking Friends the Google Way

Katherine Boehret in The Mossberg Solution on February 3, 2009 at 9:02 pm PT

Katie reviews Latitude, a new feature of Google Maps that uses location-based technology to track its users’ movements. Latitude displays the user’s location on a map for friends to see, so they can know where the person is at all times.