5 posts and columns on Sky

News Corp. Puts Myspace on Double Secret Probation

in Media on November 3, 2010 at 2:53 pm PT

That big Myspace relaunch we read about last week? That’s all fine and good. But the troubled Web property is a…really troubled Web property, its News Corp. parent stressed today. And it needs to get its act together before it gets kicked off campus.

News Byte

BSkyB Challenges Skype Trademark

in News on August 10, 2010 at 12:38 pm PT

Tucked into Skype’s IPO filing Monday was a listing of challenges to its trademark applications around the world, and it turns out that News Corp.’s British Sky Broadcasting, known as BSkyB and marketed as Sky, has a problem with 60 percent of the letters in the Internet telephony pioneer’s “bubble” logo. “The key contention in the dispute is that the brands ‘Sky’ and ‘Skype’ will be considered confusingly similar by members of the public,” a BSkyB spokesman said. “This was supported by consumer research conducted by Sky.” The EU recently ruled in BSkyB’s favor over the logo, and Skype plans to appeal. Notes TechEye.net: “As far as we know BSkyB is not filing any legal action against the Isle of Skye.”

What to Make of the Microsoft-Is-Falling-And-It-Can't-Get-Up Meme

in News on June 22, 2010 at 8:43 am PT

Oh dear, here it comes round again, like a bout of the flu–the indefatigable narrative about how Microsoft is headed downhill at an alarming speed, how CEO Steve Ballmer is about to get the boot and how it is all really, really true since the echo chamber of tech keeps repeating it. But is the sky really falling?

The Tech 10: YouTube Monetizes, iPhone Prepares for a European Tour and Google Sees Stars

in News on August 22, 2007 at 10:44 am PT

Note: John Paczkowski is on vacation and won’t be writing or posting videos until he returns Monday. To keep you abreast of tech news while he’s away, we’re compiling a daily digest of 10 must-read tech stories. We’re calling it the Tech 10 and it appears below.
  1. As inevitable as death and taxes: YouTube, the world’s No. 1 video site, will begin placing ads in its videos, All Things Digital’s Kara Swisher reports. The animated advertising will appear no earlier than 15 seconds into a video, overlaid on the bottom fifth of the screen. Citing viewer revulsion, a YouTube product manager told NewTeeVee the site will not use the dreaded preroll or postroll.
  2. Apple, leveraging its deal-brokering with AT&T stateside, has signed up European partners for iPhone sales and service. A report in the Financial Times notes that three telecoms–T-Mobile in Germany, Orange in France and O2 in the United Kingdom–will fork over 10% of the revenues made from iPhone calls and data transfers.