Blog Archives

According to the Bellevue, Wash.-based Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), yesterday was the 10th anniversary of [Bluetooth](http://www.bluetooth.com) technology, the short-range wireless standard that has people looking like their talking out of their ears.

In 1998, it was still innovative to simply have a mobile phone, but wireless Bluetooth headsets were already in existence.

According to the Bluetooth SIG and research firm Millward Brown, 85 percent of consumers recognize Bluetooth compared with 53 percent for Wi-Fi.

Bluetooth SIG also reports that 2 billion devices now incorporate its technology, a staggering number.

But where does the tooth come into play? Well, according to Bluetooth SIG, Bluetooth is the name of a Danish king from the 10th century, King Harald Blatand (Harold Bluetooth in English).

The company says King Blatand united factions in Norway, Sweden and Denmark, just as Bluetooth technology fosters connectivity for the computing, mobile phone and automotive markets.

A stretch? Maybe. Although its known mostly for the wireless headsets, Bluetooth can now be found in games, cars, clothing -- even toys.

NEW YORK -- The word from the panelists at Tuesday's online video session at the [Mediabistro](http://www.mediabistro.com/) Circus here was to spread online video everywhere you possible can.

Jim Louderback, CEO of Internet television network [Revision3](http://www.revision3.com), joked that distributing content is like drug dealing: You need to "get it out there everywhere you can."
He added, "If you love something set it free."

Dina Kaplan, co-founder and COO of online video site [Blip.tv](http://www.blip.tv), stressed the importance of syndication for online video and distributing it to sites such as [AOL](http://www.aol.com), [iTunes](http://www.apple.com/itunes) and [Facebook.](http://www.facebook.com)

She also predicted that her network may expand off the Web in the future and form a film division, reversing the path of technology from old media to new. She also sees TV networks forming online versions of popular shows in the future.

Kaplan said we'll be watching online shows in a year or two on our television sets, and cable companies such as [Cablevision](http://www.cablevision.com) (NYSE: CVC) and [Comcast](http://www.comcast.com) (NASDAQ: CMCSA) will include online video in their offerings.

Robert Scoble, author of the "Scobleizer" in *Fast Company* magazine and managing director of the [Fastcompany.tv](http://www.fastcompany.tv) site, showed off some cool tricks, such as the site [Asterpix.com](http://www.asterpix.com), which allows you to create clickable regions on top of a video.

Scoble also shared that by using [Twittervision ](http://www.twittervision.com) on his site, he was first to tell anyone else about the recent earthquake in China.

NEW YORK -- Is blogging a new evil plaguing the Internet? Not so, according to a panel of experts here at the [Mediabistro Circus](http://www.mediabistrocircus.com) conference on digital media, but you may want to call it something else.

Anil Dash, vice president and chief evangelist of blogging software company Six Apart, suggested not calling the sites "a blog" or a "platform" for your company but more a tool for conversation. "When you think blog, think handcuffs," he said.

Noah Schachtman, contributing editor for *Wired*'s Danger Room blog, described his progression from blogging in the basement of his grandmother's home to covering national security issues and interviewing notable public figures such as General David H. Petraeus.

Schachtman blogged on his own in the beginning, but when his fellow blogger was kicked out of Iraq by the U.S. Army, Schachtman decided it was time to have a big media company support his blogging.

The Danger Room blog now has 1.5 million page views, he said.

Mediabistro is a division of Jupitermedia, the parent company of InternetNews.com.

Minutes after I completed my [last post ](http://blog.internetnews.com/bhorowitz/2008/05/traditional-meets-tech-in-medi.html)about CBS (NYSE: CBS) buying CNET (NASDAQ: CNET), I learn that magazine publisher Conde Nast will announce the purchase of tech site Ars Technica on Monday.

Conde's Wired.com, the soon to be sister site of Ars Technica, has [confirmed](http://blog.wired.com/business/2008/05/its-true-cond-n.html) rumors in the blogosphere.

As big-time media companies gobble up tech Web sites, what's next?

The big media news this week was CBS Corp.'s (NYSE: CBS) [$1.8 billion purchase](/webcontent/article.php/3747156/CBS+to+Acquire+CNET+Networks+For+18B.htm) of online media company CNET Networks (NASDAQ: CNET).

Two years removed from working at CNET, I have some interest in this as if I was still there. The old-time media company buying an *old* new-media company makes this merger one to keep an eye on.

There are potential areas of synergy and also lots of [questions](/webcontent/article.php/3747311/Is+CNET+The+Right+Fit+For+CBS.htm). How will News.com and CBSNews.com coexist? Will one become part of the other?

And how will CNET's television portal, TV.com, be affected by its new sister division, the CBS television network?

And how will CBS make use of the unique tech audience of CNET, and CNET leverage the huge CBS brand name?

Stay tuned.