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12 January 2012 | Knight Center

33 percent of U.S. mobile users downloaded news apps in previous 30 days, survey shows

One-third of U.S. owners of smartphones or tablet computers said they had downloaded news apps in the previous 30 days, according to newly released results from a Nielson survey. Still, news apps came in fifth, behind games, maps/navigation, music, and social networking apps. Of those who had downloaded news apps, 14 percent had downloaded only free apps, 3 percent had only paid for news apps, and 16 percent said they had downloaded both free and paid apps, according to Nielson. The data are part of Nielson's State of the Media: Consumer Usage Report2011. Interestingly, slightly more than half (51 percent) of those mobile users surveyed said they do not mind advertising within their apps "if it means they can access content for free," according to ArsTechnica. Meanwhile, data from app analytics firm Flurry show users spend more time with mobile apps than browsing the mobile web, reported GigaOM. Smartphone users spend an average of 94 minutes a day using apps, compared with just 72 minutes a day using a mobile web browser. Sociable noted that the Flurry report said Facebook is behind this shift from web browser to app, as users increasingly are accessing the social network site via an app, rather than the mobile web.

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12 January 2012 | Reuters

Microsoft Web TV subscription plan on hold

Microsoft Corp has put its talks with media companies about an online subscription service for TV shows and movies on hold, according to people familiar with the discussions. The technology giant had been in intense talks with potential programming partners for over a year and was hoping to roll out the service in the next few months. But it pulled back after deciding that the licensing costs were too high for the business model Microsoft envisaged, according to these people. Early versions of Microsoft's TV service included a range of advanced features such as being able to change channels with voice and motion control. Similar to Netflix Inc, Microsoft's service also would have allowed users the option of paying a monthly fee for a package of programming from someone other than a local cable or satellite TV company. But unlike Netflix, Microsoft had hoped to offer current shows and live networks on its service, which made it a much higher cost proposition. Microsoft is still working closely with the TV business to distribute shows over the Web, but rather than playing a role in helping consumers replace their cable TV packages it is focusing on delivering programming via its Xbox gaming system to existing cable subscribers.

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12 January 2012 | AFP via EU Business

EU wants to double online shopping by 2015

The European Union's executive arm launched a drive on Wednesday to encourage more people to shop online, hoping to double e-commerce and the Internet's contribution to the economy by 2015. The Internet accounts for less than 3.0 percent of the EU economy while e-commerce represents just 3.4 percent of retail sales in the 27-nation bloc, the European Commission said. By comparison, the Internet accounted for 20 percent of economic growth and 25 percent of job growth in some G8 countries in the past five years, it noted. "In the difficult circumstances facing Europe we must seize every source of activity and new jobs as a matter of urgency," EU internal market commissioner Michel Barnier, digital agenda commissioner Neelie Kroes and consumer policy chief John Dalli said in a joint statement. The commission said it would take action to remove several barriers to the development of cross-border online shopping in Europe. Consumers sometimes see their orders refused because a business will not accept card payments or are unable to deliver the product to another EU country, the commission said. Some people are also wary of shopping online on concerns about the security of online payments, while those who do want to buy products via the Internet encounter costly parcel deliveries or the risk that goods will arrive damaged.

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12 January 2012 | Deutsche Welle

First foreign journalist killed in Syrian uprising

A television cameraman from a French station was killed in an attack in Homs, making him the first foreign journalist to be killed in the 10-month Syrian uprising. Several Syrian journalists have been killed so far in the uprising, which the United Nations claims has cost 5,000 lives altogether. Gilles Jacquier, who worked for France 2 Television, was in the country as part of a government-led visit by a group of foreign journalists. Foreign journalists have only been able to cover the events in Syria with great difficulty and extremely limited access since the start of the uprising in March. Jacquier was conducting interviews with the rest of the press group in the city of Homs when a spontaneous demonstration began, France 2 said in a statement on its website. The demonstration turned violent when rocket fire started, and Jacquier tried to take cover. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, six Syrians were also killed in the blast, and several other people were injured. Jacquier was an experienced cameraman who had previous experience covering the Arab revolution and had worked in Kosovo, Algeria and Afghanistan.

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12 January 2012 | The Guardian

Generic top-level domain sale begins on web

A revamp of the web begins on Thursday to allow companies, organisations and individuals who can come up with USD 185,000 to buy specific words that will replace .com, .net and the other usual suffixes on their website addresses. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) will start accepting applications for "top-level domains" such as .Pepsi or .London rather than just the traditional .com and .net . Organisations that can afford it are expected to apply so they can secure their own generic top-level domain (gTLD) but law enforcement agencies are wary that the proliferation of a whole new level of addresses will further complicate policing of the web. Many corporations view the proliferation of top-level domains as a giant problem. Companies already hire lawyers to defend their trademarks online and most were forced to spend money recently to ensure trademarks were not on the sexually oriented .xxx domain when it was introduced. Verisign, which runs the registry for .com addresses, has estimated there will be up to 1,500 applications for gTLDs. Icann has said the new system will offer many ways for website owners to protect their trademarks.

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12 January 2012 | The Local

Dutch court orders ISPs to block Pirate Bay

A Dutch court Wednesday ordered two local Internet providers to block their clients from accessing Swedish file sharing site The Pirate Bay, citing copyright concerns. "Internet providers Ziggo and XS4ALL must block their customers from accessing The Pirate Bay website," The Hague district court said in a press release. The case was brought by the copyright lobby group the Brein foundation, a trade body representing the Dutch recording industry, which said the website allowed rampant filesharing without authors' consent. Founded in 2003, The Pirate Bay makes it possible to skirt copyright fees and share music, film and computer game files for free using bit torrent technology, or peer-to-peer links offered on the site, which claims 32 million users. Its owners have repeatedly appeared in court in the Netherlands and in Sweden, where they have been sentenced for promoting copyright infringements by running the site. "We have chosen (to go to court), because Ziggo is the largest provider and XS4ALL because it is known for campaigning against limitations on the Internet," Brein's director Tim Kuik told AFP. Brein wanted to bring other providers to task as well said Kuik, adding The Pirate Bay "earned two million euros a year in advertising, perhaps, without respecting authors' rights." The Hague court said about 30 percent of Ziggo's clients and 4.5 percent of XS4ALL's customers recently swapped music, movies or games on The Pirate Bay website.

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