Xbox Grows, With Users, Beyond Videogames

Apps for Microsoft System Feed Gamers Hungry for Other Entertainment.
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Mobile Media Mavens Like Funny Videos, Baseball

The ad dollars may not be there yet, but the eyeballs are certainly arriving. Two mobile traffic data points from the guys at MLB.com and the dudes at Break Media.

The Financial Times Tries an Apple End-Run

The Financial Times, one of the most outspoken opponents of Apple’s new iTunes subscription rules, is now doing more than complaining: The publisher has created a Web-based app that lets it deliver the paper to iPad and iPhone users–and sell them subscriptions–without going through iTunes.
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Q&A: MLB.com Boss Bob Bowman on Android Owners, Facebook Video and Apple's Subscription Rules

“The iPhone and iPad user is interested in buying content–that’s one of the reasons they bought the device. The Android buyer is different.”

Facebook Takes Another Swing At Web Video: Live Streaming Major League Baseball

Last week, you could rent a movie on Facebook. Today — and for the rest of the month — you can watch a live pro baseball game on the site. Still think Facebook can’t be a big player in Web video?

A New Gig for George K: Hearst Digital Exec Running Hearst Start-Up

He’ll run Manilla, an online billpaying service he helped build for Hearst.

Another Cable Company Shows You How to Live Without Cable

Cablevision would very much like its three million cable TV subscribers to keep subscribing. But while it fights with Fox over programming fees, it’s going to show its customers how to live without cable. Today’s lesson: How to get legal streams of the World Series over the Web.

News Corp. Vs. Cablevision = Another Installment of "How to Cut Your Cord"

If the two sides don’t settle soon, Cablevision customers won’t get tonight’s great Phillies-Giants matchup via their cable box. But a credit card and a computer will let them watch a live stream, anyway.

Facebook Won't Spend Much Bread on Hot Potato

Another “buy them instead of hiring them” deal: Facebook is about to pick up Hot Potato, a start-up that specializes in organizing chats about “real time” events. The transaction hasn’t closed yet, but the social network is set to pay something in the $10 million to $15 million range for the company, people familiar with the deal tell me. That will mean a modest return for the investor consortium that put $1.4 million into the firm last year, but it will still be a return.

Apple iPad Event Liveblog

After months of feverish speculation and as many years of wishful thinking, Apple uncrated its tablet computer–the iPad–at an invitation-only event in San Francisco this morning. We’re covering it live with photos and text.