Let’s compare AdSense and PayPerPost:
AdSense examines the text/topics on your posts and attempts (sometimes pretty poorly) to display ads that match the text/topics. The blogger has not “blessed” or approved each of these ads, and they do not endorse them, but they are happy to receive money from someone clicking on one on their site. If the reader happens to have a bad experience buying or visiting the site from this paid link, they may or may not attribute some ill will to the blogger who showed them the link.
PayPerPost pays bloggers who write a post that matches the requirements of the advertiser. From looking at the site right now, about half of the opportunities are for only positive reviews/links, while a little less than half simply want a link with any thoughts (positive or negative). It is still up to the blogger whether to accept an opportunity or not, and any blogger that writes a positive review of a horrible site/service/product is sure to lose creditability with their readers. Is this really any differently than say CNET? Cnet, as do many other sites, receives a small payment anytime someone who buys a product after clicking on a link on one of the site’s reviews. People still visit and trust CNET because they give their honest opinion of products and disclose that they may receive a payment from time to time. Why should this opportunity only be left for big corporations?
I haven’t signed up for PayPerPost yet, but it looks like it could be another good souce of revenue for a blogger that only accepts PayPerPost opportunities that do not interfere with his/her ethics (i.e. only give something a positive review if you like the site/product/service).
]]>This does not mean the N-Gage has been completely disappointing, as Nokia is able to use the N-Gage software platform to expand its entrance in gaming. “We learnt that people want to play games on all devices. As such we are integrating the gaming software into Series 60 phones.”
]]>According to the company, it will look for investments in companies valued between $2 million and $7 million where it can invest from $100k to $3 million for an initial investment. These investments will be lower level series A, not seed funding, and with more extended due diligence than most early stage investments.
]]>Here are the most frequent questions:
Why are will all original Xbox games not play on the 360?
The architecture (i.e. hardware components) of the 360 are drastically different than the original Xbox. To allow games to play on the new system, an emulator must actually be created (or tweaked) to account for the differences.
Are their benefits to playing Xbox games on the 360?
Yes. Every original Xbox game will be playable in high definition. The 360 has the ability to upscale the games to 720p and 1080i.
Is a hard drive needed for backward compatibility?
Yes. It does not matter if a hard drive came bundled with your 360 or if you purchased it at a later date, but one must be present for backward compatibility.
What games from the original Xbox will play on the Xbox 360?
Household spending on entertainment has outpaced overall expenditures over the past 10 years, by more than doubling during this time. Household earning more than $77,000 per year in pretax income, which is 20% of U.S. households, spends approximately $4,500 per year on entertainment. This also varies some depending on where the household is located within the country, as households of all income levels on the west coast spend about 20% more on entertainment than the national average.
How much do you spend on entertainment? Probably more than you think. Add your subscription services together, such as digital cable, HBO, upgrade for high-definition, Netflix or renting movies, TiVo, high speed internet and in some cases satellite radio or internet streaming music, and the total will shoot above $200 per month ($2,400 per year). Next, let’s look at the variable costs like movie theatres, video games, print or electronic books, and the number quickly jumps several thousand dollars more. If you consider “food away from home”, which the Bureau of Labor Statistics considers a separate category but often overlaps with entertainment, the number grows even further.
]]>Unlike other known systems, the Radiance’s WeaponWatch is powered by infrared sensors that can literally detect missiles or gunfire at the speed of light. It even works while under heavy attack and at longer sniper distances.
WeaponWatch is one of the major reasons Radiance has grown from only three employees six years ago to 275 now, making it one of the 500 fastest-growing small businesses in the United States. It had revenue in 2004 of $35 million, a 701% growth over the last three years, and moved up 66 places to #148 on the 2005 Inc. 500 list.
]]>WiBro is one of the next steps beyond 3G known as mobile WiMax and will provide subscribers up to 10 Mbytes of data transfer per second while driving at 75 miles per hour. Current trials have already shown KT subscribers downloading at 4 Mbytes per second at cruising speeds.
KT said the first deployment will be in the Seoul metropolitan area, with further deployments gradually expanding across the country. Koh, Jong-Seog, vice president of KT’s Mobile Internet Business Group, is quoted in an article on EETimes, stating that the new service is expected to provide KT with additional sales of approximately 10 trillion won ($10 billion) through 2010. As SK Telecom and Hanaro Telecom are providing similar WiBro services, high speed broadband will no doubt expand quickly through the Korean consumer and business market.
]]>The initial test takes between 30 to 75 seconds and can be performed as part of the standard security screening. Passengers simply put on a pair of headphones and look at a console to answer “yes” or “no” questions into a microphone. For those that fail the initial test, they are taken aside for a more extensive test.
At $10k to $30 per installation, the added speed and accuracy of the tests may be a good step towards improving airline safety and helping you get through the “line” that much faster.
]]>The study asked 2500 mobile phone users across the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) “under which of the following circumstances they would use data services like wireless internet and mobile TV – if it were free, if the price were right or not interested at all”.
Brazilians had the highest interest in mobile data but only if these services were provided for free. Are we surprised this? Business and consumer customers across the world always show much higher interest in data, content, applications and games when there is no charge for them.
The more in-depth areas of the study examine those subscribers willing to pay “if the price were right”. Russians are willing to pay an average of $4.23 USD per month for mobile data, while those in Brazil and China would pay an average of $4.00 USD per month. Indian subscribers show the least willingness to pay with $1.50 USD per month, where only 20% of respondents showed an interest in mobile data applications.
]]>Navio sells multimedia networking software to media companies that allows subscribers to buy, share, download, store and access content while protecting the content. Their technology can be integrated into customers’ storefronts through the internet, mobile devices and peer-to-peer networks. It also allows customers access and redownload their purchased content when they lose or upgrade their devices.
Lead participants in this round were the WK Technology Fund and VantagePoint Venture Partners.
]]>Loc-AID was founded in 2001 to add functionality and interoperability to cell phones with location based services.
]]>The system will not only provide ratings for content but will also allow parents to block access to particular content on their children’s devices. The two-tiered system will divide content on a carrier’s portal into Generally Accessible Carrier Content and Restricted Carrier Content. To avoid inconsistencies with other rating systems, the system will categorize based on existing movie, TV and game rating systems.
The initial phase of the rating system will label content provided on carrier portals, with a second phase to address internet content accessed through mobile devices.
Adult content on mobile devices has been available on carriers in Asia for years and is quickly growing in Europe. While this type of content has not been a large part of the U.S. mobile content industry, it is good to see U.S. carriers beginning to provide the tools to consumers to monitor the type of content accessed on their plans.
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Unlike rival Massive Incorporated–which focuses on inserting ads into games by major publishers–Double Fusion intends to work with major publishers as well as makers of short-form casual games, like those Graber oversaw at Yahoo! Games. “There are opportunities in both areas,” Graber said. “There’s very clearly an interest from brand game publishers to leverage their games, but there’s also a very good target market in the demographic for casual games as well.
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]]>According to Marketing Insight, a consumer research institute, 14 million out of 37 million cell phone subscribers in Korea play mobile games. To put it another way, four out of every 10 people are mobile gamers. More specifically, 2.3 million play mobile games everyday, accounting for 6.2 percent of the total cell phone subscribers, including 15 percent of cell phone users in their teens and twenties.
As the popularity of mobile games soars among teenagers and workers, there is a growing concern over “mobile game addiction.” Indeed, mobile games are increasingly causing distractions at workplaces and classes.
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Experts agree that the biggest problem with mobile games is the difficulty in determining whether one is addicted to the games or not.
According to psychiatry professor Yoon Soo-jung of St. Paul’s Hospital, many teachers complain about students playing mobile games in class, and it is difficult for parents to notice their children’s mobile game addiction as children can easily hide their mobile game playing, unlike Internet games.
Oh Won-i, the head of the Information Misuse Prevention and Research Center at Korea Agency for Digital Opportunity and Promotion, also pointed out that due to the ubiquity of cell phones, it is hard to draw a clear definition of mobile game addiction despite its great adverse effects. In addition, he emphasized the need for concerted efforts from mobile phone operators to establish a program to prevent mobile game addiction.
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]]>Disney first entered the mobile market in Japan through a deal in August 2000 with NTT DoCoMo which propelled its to become the number one mobile entertainment brand in that market. It currently has distribution deals with all 4 major carriers and more than 3.3 million paid subscriptions. This latest move is intended to enable the group to replicate this success in Europe.
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]]>The study has been conducted eight times since 2000 and uses a sample of 4000 mobile phone users in 21 countries. A few of the most interesting results from this most recent report includes:
The bid is being recommended by O2’s board and will complete early next year if it is accepted by shareholders. Telefonica has announced that O2 will maintain its current branding with a headquarters in the UK.
Analysts see this expansion as a great move by Telefonica, as the two companies have little overlap in operations and O2 is known for pushing mobile data technologies such as i-mode in the UK.
]]>Liddell again reiterated a warning that launch volumes may be low but that the company was focusing on maintaining a steady flow of the console into retail lines.
]]>To reach this $55 billion sales prediction for the global video game industry, the market would have to grow at an average rate of 16.5% from its 2004 level of $25.4 billion. PWC defines the video game industry to include software, subscriptions and advertising, while excluding hardware and accessories.
Asia-Pacific will see substantial growth of 18% annual growth to raise its video game sales to $23.1 billion in 2009. The United States will see annual growth of 12.9% to reach PWC’s $15.1 billion prediction for the market. EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) will see the largest growth with an annual average of19.1% to increase its 2004 total of $6.0 billion to $14.3 billion in 2009.
While the market is growing, the pieces of the industry are beginning to shift. The PC game market will decrease from $771 million in 2004 to $655 million in 2009, and that is with the strong support from Latin America which is still seeing moderate growth. Console mobiles are showing substantial growth prior to the next-gen fixed console launch and will continue to remain strong. Outside of the more standard game market, mobile games on cellphones will see significant growth thanks to new innovations, with the U.S. along growing from $281 million in 2004 to $2.1 billion in 2009.
The 50 page full report can be purchased from PWC for $95.
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