online media

There is a popular saying in politics that all politics are local; and in China the same can be said about the Internet. Local players, in tune to the specific needs of the country’s “Netizens”, rule the digital space, and the numbers are staggering. Currently, the Internet in China is home to over 340 million users who are online for an average of 16 hours per week, the same amount of time they spend watching television. There are 111 million people managing a social network profile, and these numbers are growing daily.

Before the dust even settles on the news that Microsoft and Yahoo will partner on Internet searches and advertising, the U.S. government has announced plans to scrutinize the deal. Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) said the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights will investigate. He is chairman of the subcommittee.

Twitter investors may be speculating about the value of social-networking sites, but no one is speculating about their popularity.

In the U.S. alone, the number of minutes people spend on social-networking sites has increased 83 percent year over year, according to Nielsen Online. In fact, total minutes spent on Facebook increased nearly 700 percent year over year, growing from 1.7 billion minutes in April 2008 to 13.9 billion in April 2009, making it the number-one social-networking site for the month.

by David Schneider

You don't often hear a three-star general using the word "friend" as a verb.

But for Lt. Gen. Benjamin Freakley and other Army brass, a new era has brought a new language -- and new tools like online social networks Twitter and Facebook -- for seeking out young recruits and spreading the military's message.

Freakley, who heads the Army command that oversees recruiting, says social networking sites offer another way to reach tomorrow's soldiers.

Call it Round Two of the news conference, with a big Internet twist. President Barack Obama took questions from the White House press corps on Tuesday in a prime-time, East Room session that represented the most formal and time-honored of president-and-reporter interactions. On Thursday, he is taking to that same room for another public grilling -- this time by regular folks armed with questions submitted via the Internet and in person, as part of a political strategy to engage Americans directly.

Yahoo is making a bid for Internet television. The company's Connected TV group unveiled the next generation of technology and services for Internet-connected televisions, along with a slew of partnerships that promise consumers plenty of options.

The first fruits of Yahoo's partnerships with leading consumer electronics manufacturers, which include Samsung, Sony, LG Electronics, and Vizio, is a widget-based user experience that delivers Web content to TVs. The products that tap into Yahoo's Connected TV technology will be available in the spring.

Android, the open-source mobile platform spearheaded by Google, is gaining favor with developers and online media. At its Google I/O conference in San Francisco last week, Google showed off a variety of new Android tricks to the nearly 3,000 developers in attendance. According to news reports, the developers were favorably impressed, and media outlets are teeming with reports on the conference.

Movement-Sensitive Street View

A big hit was a demonstration of Google Maps Street View and a touchscreen interface with a unique navigational approach.