interactive

Photobucket, Scrapblog form crafty partnership

Photobucket, the massive photo-sharing site that was acquired by News Corp.'s Fox Interactive Media last year, has partnered with Scrapblog, a start-up that lets members create online scrapbooks.

Through the partnership, whose financial terms were not disclosed, Scrapblog's drag-and-drop application will be available within Photobucket so that users can work their Photobucket albums into scrapbooks and then share or embed them on the Web. Starting in September, printed versions of Scrapblog scrapbooks will be available for purchase.

"Scrapbooks have traditionally been an important part of how people have kept and shared memories offline for many years, and … Read more

The new brand continuum

What exactly does a brand manager do? I asked people who carry this title, but I could never quite figure out which responsibilities this most ominous job entails--besides creating hefty brand books with arcane brand architectures and guidelines (usually ignored by employees and vendors), auditing brand equity through some arbitrary tracking mechanisms, and chasing malicious brand violators all over the globe. If that sounds like a valuable job to you, fine. To me, it sounds more like a combination of the worst aspects of legal counseling and a PR internship. If the marketing 2.0 textbook holds that everyone's … Read more

Google takes top Web spot in July

It should come as no surprise, but Google sites officially continued to dominate the Web landscape in July, drawing more than 141 million unique visitors and placing Yahoo and Microsoft at second and third place, according to analyst group ComScore Media Metrix.

AOL took fourth behind the top sites, all of which were enveloped in discussions about acquisitions or partnerships this summer.

Fox Interactive Media, parent company of MySpace, was the fifth most visited group of sites, with a registered 88 million unique visitors. Facebook, on the other hand, landed at No. 16 with 39 million visitors. However, ComScore reported … Read more

MySpace parent company joins Family Online Safety Institute

Fox Interactive Media, the News Corp. subsidiary that owns social sites MySpace and Photobucket, has signed on as the latest member of the Family Online Safety Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to "identifying and promoting best practice, tools and methods in the field of online safety, that also respect free expression."

As the first social network to become a nationwide teen craze, MySpace became a frequent target for safety advocates--including state lawmakers, who ended up working with the social network to create a safety plan for kids and teens online.

Other prominent members of FOSI include AOL, AT&… Read more

For MySpace, both new hires and layoffs

MySpace, the social network owned by News Corp.'s Fox Interactive Media, announced Wednesday that it has hired five new members for its executive team--three senior vice presidents and two vice president--in fields ranging from engineering to customer service. They're coming from a mixed background of media and tech.

Manu Thapar, former vice president of engineering at Yahoo, has been hired as MySpace's senior vice president of engineering, a role that involves architecture and security management as well as the creation of an offshore development team. Another Yahoo veteran, Tish Whitcraft, has joined MySpace as senior vice president … Read more

Blu-ray producers question value of bonus features

I recently wrote a column titled, "Is BD-Live Blu-ray's secret weapon--or a bust?" Most readers seemed to think all whiz-bang interactivity features were more busts than secret weapons. And now it appears that a selection of Blu-ray producers speaking at a panel at Comic-Con 2008 feel the same way.

Video Business reports that the panel drew dozens of consumers and that the Q&A discussion, moderated by The Digital Bits' Bill Hunt, was frank and lively.

A few choice quotes:

Producer Robert Meyer Burnett (Shoot 'Em Up) said: "It would be interesting if they wanted … Read more

Video: The swirling, surreal world of Obscura Digital

CNET News' multimedia team, reporter Kara Tsuboi, photographer James Martin and cameraman Jared Kohler, visited the San Francisco studio of Obscura Digital, a company that aims to push the boundaries of digital marketing and advertising.

To talk or write about Obscura Digital's projects just doesn't do them justice. Their work is meant to be experienced first hand, hence the catchy phrase CEO Patrick Connolly kept throwing around to describe the 7-year-old company's work: immersion and interactive technologies. Watch the video that we shot on our recent visit to this unassuming warehouse space located in San Francisco's … Read more

Last.fm gets a makeover, but can't stay standing

Social music site Last.fm has unveiled a new look: a slick new design, an iPhone app, a partnership with Logitech to stream music to compatible home stereo systems, and a host of new features.

With the new features, members can receive music recommendations instantly by naming a few bands and artists they like. Previously, they had to hook up their music libraries so that the site's engine, or "scrobbler," could read and analyze what songs they'd listened to recently. The site's music charts now also update in near-real time.

Unfortunately, when I tried to … Read more

Photobucket forges iPhone app, Ask partnership

Looks like some big-media deal-making went into this one.

Photobucket, the photo-sharing site that was acquired by News Corp.'s Fox Interactive Media last year, has announced the launch of an iPhone application (download), just like everybody else.

Users can browse their Photobucket albums, as well as upload images from the iPhone to the service with a single click. The application costs $4.99.

But Photobucket had a more interesting announcement on Thursday, namely a multiyear partnership with Ask.com, the search engine owned by new-media conglomerate InterActiveCorp.

Through the deal, Photobucket will use exclusively Ask.com search for its … Read more