media

Companies looking to get a piece of the Hulu pie had until this week to put in their first round of bids for the video streaming service. And, it appears that four companies have gone in for a slice.

Former News Corp president Peter Chernin, private equity fund Guggenheim Digital Media (which is headed the former interim Yahoo CEO by Ross Levinsohn), satellite operator DirecTV, and cable operator Time Warner Cable have all put in bids, according to Reuters.

Hulu has supposedly been looking for a buyer over the past couple of years, and recently several companies have allegedly expressed … Read more

Kazo Vision's Lyrebird is a powerful multimedia publishing solution that lets you create, edit, and distribute custom multimedia content, incorporating a huge range of file and document types to a variety of devices employing LCD screens and projection technology. It's composed of two parts, an Editor and a Player, though they're one and the same in the free Standalone Edition. The free version lets you master Lyrebird's many options and steps, and schedule multimedia presentations to play on your own PC, once or multiple times, always on top (or not) and with effects such as text … Read more

After several high-profile incriminating pictures hitting the Intertubes this year, TMZ reports that Justin Bieber wants all visitors to his Calabasas, Calif., mega mansion to sign a liability waiver restricting any social-media divulge about the goings-on behind closed doors.

The supposed waiver (PDF) isn't the friendliest welcome mat, as anyone with loose lips automatically gets pegged with a $5 million lawsuit -- plus they forfeit a few rights, including the ability to sue Bieber.

"Without in any way limiting the foregoing, under no circumstances will you divulge the details of you entering and being on the Property or engaging in the Activities by any means or through any media whatsoever, including without limitation, through photographs, video, blogging, texting, "tweeting" or posting any such information on any social-media site," says the alleged waiver. … Read more

After the hacking collective Anonymous launched a Twitter campaign pledging to go after the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba, the U.S. military barred all Wi-Fi access on the base, according to the Associated Press. All social media, including Facebook and Twitter, also has been banned.

Army Lt. Col. Samuel House told the Associated Press that the shuttering of the base's Wi-Fi was because of Anonymous' public plans to "disrupt activities" at the military prison.

While no disruptions have yet been reported, according to the Associated Press, Anonymous has promised to make good on its threats.… Read more

In recent years, we've seen people dabble in bringing a narrative film experience to mobile phones. It makes sense -- there's an interactive personal screen in your pocket that allows you to pick up content wherever you go. But neither the interactive film "Tender Loving Care" (starring John Hurt) nor the Dutch film "App," which interacted with your iOS or Android device during cinematic screenings, picked up much traction.

"Haunting Melissa," by film producer Neal Edelstein, might have what it takes. Available globally as a free app on iOS, the film is accessible, and it's using the flexibility of mobile devices to experiment with the genre. … Read more

Twitter and NBA Digital have partnered to stream in-tweet video highlights of some of the NBA playoffs' most exciting plays.

The deal, which was first reported by Bloomberg, comes just days after a similar arrangement between Twitter and ESPN. In that arrangement, Twitter users will have access to replays from soccer, the X Games, and college football.

Twitter said that the NBA highlights will be sponsored by Sony Pictures Entertainment, Taco Bell, and Sprint Nextel.

QR codes haven't exactly set the world on fire, yet most people know what they are, and most phones can scan them, either out of the box or with a third-party app.

The Findables Case takes that idea to heart by emblazoning a unique QR code on each hard-plastic shell, the idea being to use that code to share information about yourself or help recover your lost phone.

In other words, your case can now take the place of your business card, while at the same time offering good Samaritans a means of contacting you (that doesn't involve poring through your address book).

When someone scans the code, they'll see one of three profiles (chosen by you via a companion app or the Findables Web site): Business, Social, or Lost.… Read more

Pheed, a social-networking service designed to meet all the multimedia needs of today's mobile user, has launched its application for Android.

The Android release trails Pheed's official debut back in November on Apple's iOS platform.

Since then, the Los Angeles-based bootstrapped startup has racked up "a few million users," around 20 percent of whom are teens ages 15 to 17. And more than 42 percent of app users are between the ages of 17 and 22, which means Pheed is already immensely popular with high schoolers and college kids and may be one of the … Read more

"Thank you for sharing" takes on an entirely new meaning when using social media. Most of the people who use Twitter, Facebook, and other social networks intend their posts to enlighten, amuse, or inspire their friends and followers. It doesn't always work out that way.

For businesses, Twitter is primarily about customer relations, but this can backfire, too, as Customer Think's Trish Miller points out in the Top 10 Twitter Mistakes of 2012.

The first time you sat behind the wheel of a car you didn't just turn the key and head for the freeway … Read more