Tag: apple tv

Will Apple poach broadcast users?

Posted on by Lab Team

With all the fury surrounding Apple’s latest announcements, we thought it would be fitting to recap the highlights and debate some of the opinions spewing out so far.

iTunes 10 & Ping: A social network for music

Some will call this a MySpace killer (available for upload now) but in this current configuration, I don’t think that is the case. After playing with the product and reading comments online, I think Apple’s insistence on a simple user experience in comparison to MySpace’s cluster of over personalization, went a little too far and features that should have been left in were left out. For example, there’s currently no easy way to follow people I actually know.

Apple claims on their site that there is a Facebook Connect feature allowing you to search for your Facebook friends easily. Well, this turns out not to be the case as Apple did not follow processes necessary to turn this feature on with Facebook. Namely, because Ping “pings” the Facebook API to such a significant degree, the social network requires Apple to pay for the service, something which was not negotiated ahead of time but I’m sure is in development now. Until this is resolved, I can only find my friends by entering in their email address one by one until I find someone. Yesterday, my friend from Berlin tracked me down so I officially have one real Ping friend. Continue reading “Will Apple poach broadcast users?”

New media solutions for new mamas

Posted on by Lab Team

Lab Director Lori Schwartz and SadieFor those who know Lab Director Lori Schwartz, it’s not a shock that she’d bring her love of emerging media home with her. Lori’s been an evangelist of advanced TV and video, interactive content, and industry partnerships for as long as anyone would listen.

So we were not surprised when she emailed from her Blackberry on the table minutes before giving birth; or that we got the first Facebook photo of Sadie within minutes of her arrival this past month.

And now, Lori is proving that like innovative brand campaigns, child rearing is also an excellent opportunity to integrate new media solutions. We’ve highlighted the use of new media previously for weddings, and for other important life milestones. But for those who are considering or who will soon make the leap into parenthood, here are some of the best bets from an “emerging media mama:” Continue reading “New media solutions for new mamas”