After adding live TV streaming features to the DirecTV iPad app last fall, the company is expanding the feature today by pushing an upgrade that lets viewers watch video (but no live TV, yet) even when they're away from home. Dubbed DirecTV Everywhere, it follows up on the company's promises of more video for customer's mobile devices, offering "selected" video on-demand programming for on the go viewing. The Solid Signal Blog has an early preview of the new features with more screenshots and a video, revealing that available content at the moment consists of premium movie channels (HBO networks, Starz, Sony Movie Channel) and DirecTV's own Audience Network. While we wait for more content, other new features include the What's Hot social module pulling from your Twitter and Facebook friends to see what they're watching, and social checkins with Miso. We haven't gotten any official info from DirecTV on the upgrade beyond the changelog, but for now you can check out iTunes for the details. Update: We've heard back from DirecTV, and their stance is that the DirecTV Everywhere service is still under beta test, which may explain the limited content availability at the moment. Other than the iPad app, content is also going to be available through DirecTV.com, and we should look for a national launch in late spring / early summer. [Thanks, Brandon & Brian] Continue reading DirecTV iPad app adds (some) TV and movie streaming 'Everywhere' (Update: beta) DirecTV iPad app adds (some) TV and movie streaming 'Everywhere' (Update: beta) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Mar 2012 13:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | iTunes, Solid Signal Blog | Email this | Comments
from Engadget http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/21/directv-ipad-app-adds-some-tv-and-movie-st...
After recently announcing plans to launch a new over-the-top internet based TV service in the UK Sky CEO Jeremy Darroch has revealed its name, Now TV, and what it will bring to customers. Speaking at the Media Guardian Changing Media Summit in London, Darroch indicated Now TV would operate as its own brand, targeting the 13 million UK homes that don't pay for TV from any provider. It will start offering instant access to movies this summer followed by sports and other entertainment soon after, with access by monthly subscription or PPV across a variety of devices. It will be different from the existing Sky TV service, and all of its online tie-ins like Sky Go by focusing on flexibility and "spontaneous access" Constantly complaining about a lack of access to programming like, say, Game of Thrones without a traditional pay-TV package? It sounds like this should be right up your alley, so while details like exact pricing are still TBA, feel free to hit the source links below for all of the info currently available including a transcript of his speech, or head to the Now TV website directly to sign up for updates. Sky dubs upcoming internet TV service 'Now TV', chases those currently without pay-TV originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Mar 2012 10:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Sky, Jeremy Darroch (PDF), Now TV | Email this | Comments
from Engadget http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/21/sky-now-tv-internet-tv-service/
CanHasDIY writes "Straight out of 1984, Samsung has unveiled a new series of televisions with integrated cameras and microphones, complete with facial and voice recognition software. Best of all, there appears to be no physical indication of the mic and camera's status, so consumers have no way of knowing when they're being monitored, or by whom... and if you don't find the idea of a TV that watches you creepy enough, apparently Samsung's Terms of Service include a clause allowing third-party apps to make use of the monitoring system, and use the data gathered for their own purposes. Nothing Orwellian about that..." Read more of this story at Slashdot. 
from Slashdot http://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/03/21/2117236/new-samsung-tv-watches-you-wat...
All this talk about overheating iPads isn't getting Apple all that excited, apparently. The company issued a fairly noncommittal response on the matter, stating that in spite of the tablet's LTE support, fast processing, battery life and resolutionary display magic, it still "operate[s] well within [Apple's] thermal specifications." That said, if anyone happens to have concern with regards to an overheated lap, "they should contact AppleCare." There may be a chance, after all, that you've been holding it wrong. Apple: don't worry about hot iPad reports, it's cool originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Mar 2012 11:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | All Things D | Email this | Comments
from Engadget http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/20/apple-dont-worry-about-hot-ipad-reports-it...
Kevin O’Keefe is CEO and publisher of LexBlog, the leading provider of professional turnkey blog and social media solutions. The LexBlog Network (LXBN), with over 7,000 lawyers and other service professionals, is the largest network of professionals blogging.
For the better part of a decade, law firms have successfully used blogs to bring in high-quality work. Now, there is new industry research that measures the impact of blogs as business development tools.
A recent survey by communications firm Greentarget measured how in-house counsel use and perceive blogs. The findings have raised some eyebrows:
- In-house attorneys exhibit widespread trust (84%) in blogs.
- They read attorney-authored or firm-branded blogs more often than they read blogs written by actual journalists.
- More than half of respondents said they think a prominent blog will influence clients to hire one firm over another.
- While daily blog readership dropped 10% from 2010, weekly and monthly readership more than made up for it, shedding new light on the quality versus quantity debate.
Decision makers are relying on blogs for critical business information and in deciding which law firm to hire.
Law firms, in turn, are increasing the number of blogs they publish. Recent analysis found that 68 of the top 100 firms are publishing a total of 272 blogs. This is up from 156 blogs in 2010 — a 74% increase.
Given the increase in the number of law blogs, the question becomes, what makes one blog successful and one not? The answer is developing a strategy based on engagement.
Relationships and a strong word-of-mouth reputation are how lawyers have always found their best work — the Internet doesn’t change that. It is a relationship and reputation accelerator.
Outline for a Winning Strategy
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Identify the type of work and clients you want. The top blogs focus on specific practice areas and vertical industries, not firm brands.
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Identify your target audience. While clients and prospective clients are important, influencers and amplifiers are more important. Engaging reporters, association leaders, publishers, conference coordinators and leading bloggers gets you seen and referenced as a thought leader.
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Listen. Listening to what is being written and shared on the Internet is more important than content. The quickest way to earn someone’s attention is by listening to and sharing what they have to say.
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Network. Blogging is all about networking, not marketing. Be it interviews, quoting the work of others or even comments, use the blog as a way to introduce yourself to new people.
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Invest the time. Like any business development effort, blogging takes time. Unlike advertising, for which people expect immediate results, networking through the Internet to build relationships and a strong reputation can take a year or two — though, that’s faster than doing so offline.
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Complement blogging with short-form social media. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and even a website are all roads leading to a lawyer’s true identity: his or her blog.
Lawyer Role Models
Looking to other lawyers who’ve experienced business development success is a good place to start. Relationships and engagement are the keys to a blog’s success, per New York attorney Peter Mahler of Farrell Fritz, who publishes a blog covering business dissolution matters titled New York Business Divorce.
“My blog has not only been a powerful business generation tool for a niche practice like mine, but it has also opened the door to a host of professionally rewarding relationships with other lawyers, law professors, judges and experts. My blog’s success comes from consistently posting about interesting topics in an engaging style that tells the reader not only what happened in this or that case, but why it happened, how it fits into the bigger picture and what the reader’s takeaway should be, all of which allows me to demonstrate my expertise as a business divorce lawyer.”
In addition to making his legal practice more fulfilling, Chicago attorney R. David Donoghue of Holland and Knight, publisher of both the Chicago IP Litigation Blog and the Retail Patent Litigation blogs, reports that his blogs have been a powerful source of both reputation and business generation. “While it took time for my blogs to begin generating business, over time they have helped generate significant patent litigation matters,” he says.
Execution of Your Blogging Strategy
Like any business development effort, execution is key. Some law firms will have individual lawyers blogging, while other law firms will blog by practice group or industry.
Philadelphia attorney Sean Wajert publishes his own blog, Mass Tort Defense, regarding defense of mass tort cases and large scale product liability claims. At the same time, Wajert is chair of the mass torts and product liability practice group for Dechert, an 800-lawyer multinational law firm.
The Privacy Law Blog, published by the Privacy and Data Security Group of Proskauer, another global law firm, has 16 lawyers contributing as writers with one lawyer serving as editor.
Though quality over quantity is key, good law blogs publish two to four times a month, with many choosing to publish more often.
Developing a social media policy which complements the firm’s existing communication policy helps guide lawyers on issues such as taking a strong position on a law blog and conflicts of interest.
The blogs that in-house counsel want to read give them information and insights they can’t get elsewhere. In revealing that in-house counsel read firm-branded blogs more often than blogs by professional reporters, the Greentarget survey respondents signal an important trend: They see value in going directly to unfiltered sources of information from true subject matter experts. Journalists are no longer the primary conduits to a mass audience. Self-publishing means attorneys can go there directly.
Even with a strategy in place, attorneys want to see the blog’s impact, that it isn’t falling on deaf ears. Greentarget’s report indicates that may not be the easiest thing to do, but it’s still happening.
Is it Resonating?
The Greentaret survey touched on an interesting “invisible user” phenomenon. The research reflects that 68% of respondents use social media to “listen” exclusively. So, if a blog isn’t generating comments or tweets aren’t being retweeted, that does not mean in-house counsel aren’t depending on these platforms for information and hiring decisions. Social listening campaigns to measure the effectiveness of a blog’s content strategy — compelling metrics for consumer-oriented blogs — don’t necessarily apply to the in-house legal community.
Lawyers and firms need to focus on the right set of measurable objectives when it comes to blogging.
Rather than focusing on data-based metrics, a mistake that many law firms make, the real ROI for blogging and social media activity should be measured in the following ways:
- Is your reputation being enhanced?
- Is your network of relationships growing?
- Are you establishing yourself as a subject matter expert?
- Are you getting not just clients, but high-quality clients?
Law firms have access to valuable information and perspective and should view blogs as a way to leverage this information to build and deepen relationships with clients and allied organizations.
Lawyers and firms are arguably in the greatest of positions to self-publish and produce compelling content because they are at the intellectual apex of most legal, regulatory and economic developments impacting business worldwide.
In capitalizing on this, lawyers and law firms have the potential to bring in high quality work with a level of efficiency and interpersonal engagement they have never experienced before.
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, shironosov
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from Mashable! http://mashable.com/2012/03/21/law-firm-blogging/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_m...
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After spending 26 years at Electronic Arts, Bing Gordon moved over to Kleiner Perkins, where in 2008, he led the venture capital firm’s investment in the antithesis of EA: Zynga.
That investment has netted a nearly 20x return for the firm, and Gordon has since helped steer Kleiner Perkins deeply into the social web, with investments in Spotify, Path, Klout and many others.
Gordon also leads the sFund, a $250 million venture between Kleiner Perkins, Facebook, Zynga, Amazon, Comcast, Liberty Media and Allen & Company that launched in 2010.
We had a chance to catch up with Gordon at SXSW, which he described as the place “where the entrepreneurs we work with make a stand.”
Gordon shared his thoughts on what areas of social he’s most excited about right now, what makes social games so compelling and whether we’re in an investment bubble.
Check out the video above for the interview.
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from Mashable! http://mashable.com/2012/03/19/bing-gordon-interview/?utm_source=feedburner&u...
I couldn't be more delighted by the announcement today that Todd Park has been named the new Chief Technology Officer for the United States, replacing Aneesh Chopra.
I first met Todd in 2008 at the urging of Mitch Kapor, who thought that Todd was the best exemplar in the healthcare world of my ideas about the power of data to transform business and society, and that I would find him to be a kindred spirit. And so it was. My lunch with Todd turned into a multi-hour brainstorm as we walked around the cliffs of Lands End in San Francisco. Todd was on fire with ideas about how to change healthcare, and the opportunity of the new job he'd just accepted, to become the CTO at HHS.
Subsequently, I helped Todd to organize a series of workshops and conferences at HHS to plan and execute their open data strategy. I met with Todd and told him how important it was not just to make data public and hope developers would come, but to actually do developer evangelism. I told him how various tech companies ran their developer programs, including some stories about Amazon's rollout of AWS: they had first held a small, private event to which they invited people and companies who'd been unofficially hacking on their data, told them their plans, and recruited them to build apps against the new APIs that were planned. Then, when they made their public announcement, they had cool apps to show, not just good intentions.
Todd immediately grasped the blueprint, and executed with astonishing speed. Before long, he held a workshop for an invited group of developers, entrepreneurs and health data wonks to map out useful data that could be liberated, and useful applications that could be built with it. Six months later, he held a public conference to showcase the 40-odd applications that had been developed. Now in its third year, the event has grown into what Todd calls the Health Datapalooza. As noted on GigaOm, the event has already led to several venture backed startup. (Applications are open for startups to be showcased at this year's event, June 5-6 in Washington D.C.)
Since I introduced him to Eric Ries, author of The Lean Startup, Todd has been introducing the methodology to Washington, insisting on programs that can show real results (learning and pivots) in only 90 days. He just knows how to make stuff happen.
Todd is also an incredibly inspiring speaker. At my various Gov 2.0 events, he routinely got a standing ovation. His enthusiasm, insight, and optimism are infectious.
When Todd Park talks, I listen. (Photo by James Duncan Davidson from the 2010 Gov 2.0 Summit. http://www.flickr.com/photos/oreillyconf/4967787323/in/photostream/)
Many will ask about Todd's technical credentials. After all, he is trained as a healthcare economist, not an engineer or scientist. There are three good answers:
1. Economists are playing an incredibly important role at today's technology companies, as extracting meaning and monetization from massive amounts of data become one of the key levers of success and competitive advantage. (Think Hal Varian at Google, working to optimize the ad auction.) Healthcare in particular is one of those areas where science, human factors, and economics are on a collision course, but virtually every sector of our nation is undergoing a transformation as a result of intelligence derived from data analysis. That's why I put Todd on my list for Forbes.com of the world's most important data scientists.
2. Todd is an enormously successful technology entrepreneur, with two brilliant companies - Athenahealth and Castlight Health - under his belt. In each case, he was able to succeed by understanding the power of data to transform an industry.
3. He's an amazing learner. In a 1998 interview describing the founding of Athena Health, he described his leadership philosophy: "Put enough of an idea together to inspire a team of really good people to jump with you into a general zone like medical practices. Then, just learn as much as you possibly can and what you really can do to be helpful and then act against that opportunity. No question."
Todd is one of the most remarkable people I've ever met, in a career filled with remarkable people. As Alex Howard notes, he should be an inspiration for more "retired" tech entrepreneurs to go into government. This is a guy who could do literally anything he put his mind to, and he's taking up the challenge of making our government smarter about technology. I want to put out a request to all my friends in the technology world: if Todd calls you and asks you for help, please take the call, and do whatever he asks.

from O'Reilly Radar - Insight, analysis, and research about emerging technologies. http://radar.oreilly.com/2012/03/mancrush-federal-cto-todd-park.html?utm_sour...
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