MySpace ends its fight against Facebook
By BLOOMBERG NEWS
October 23, 2009

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bostoncom751:http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2009/10/23/myspace_ends_its_fight_against_facebook/
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NEW YORK - MySpace’s battle with Facebook is over, and the News Corp.-owned website is focused on a “fundamentally different’’ experience providing entertainment content, said Chief Executive Officer Owen Van Natta.

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“I really don’t view Facebook as a competitor,’’ Van Natta said in an interview yesterday. “I personally have a Facebook account, and I use it to communicate with my friends and my family. And I have a MySpace account that I use primarily to interact with other people in and around content.’’
MySpace introduced music features yesterday for artists and fans, part of an effort by Van Natta, 39, to focus on building entertainment programming since joining the company in April. Van Natta, the former chief operating officer of Facebook, is trying to reverse what researcher eMarketer projects will be a 14 percent drop in advertising on MySpace this year.
Van Natta said he’s building the MySpace user experience around the “socialization’’ of entertainment, including leveraging exclusive licensing deals with the world’s biggest music labels. Videos and online games are also a focus.
MySpace Music Videos will be a clearinghouse for videos from all the major record labels, the Los Angeles company said yesterday. It will include artist catalogs, as well as user recommendations on what to watch, a browsing tool, and a video player with “Buy’’ buttons.
Videos from the MySpace catalog also will be played on other social networks including Facebook as a result of the company’s recent acquisition of online music-sharing service iLike, Van Natta said. A new MySpace Artist Dashboard will provide a free data and analytics tool for musicians.
“The licenses that we have gotten through our partnerships are different from everybody else out there,’’ Van Natta said.
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.

- I personally, think that Van Natta has a valid point, yes facebook is not as "industry based" as myspace , but i do believe that facebook will head that way. Myspace did not originally come with music and band groups and websites and technology blogs, but later turned into that when facebook came out to provide something different; I believe facebook too will change and adapt and become a huge compeitior if it is not already with myspace.

End of the world as Hollywood knows it

This morning's TV Week update carries a story and link to a interesting piece on CNET about the changing Hollywood entertainment industry. I keep telling my classes that changing public interest and access to entertainment content will change the media business.

The simple explanation: audiences access so much free content (yes, some is low production value user-generated content--such as YouTube) that they are not as motivated to buy or consume some higher production value content. Mainstream companies are making alternate content available through online distribution. Higher end content, currently free, may become subscription service--if not watched on broadcast or cable television. We talked on Thursday about Chase Carey's expectation that Hulu.com will become a subscription service.

Here's the CNET article:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-10378654-261.html

Movie scrapped because of budget or risky business?

So Universal pictures decided to scrap a Kate Blanchett movie. The Excuse? Budget issues. There could be some truth to it if it weren't for the fact that the film, based on the non-fiction book about the end of British rule in India (to be filmed in India), also touched on an issue sensitive to the Indian government, mainly, the alleged affair between Edwina, the wife of British officical Lord Mountbatten, and the newly appointed (first) prime minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru.

No scenes of physical intimacy between Nehru and Lady Mountbatten are allowed, no gestures or actions or words of love or affection between the two .

BBC correspondent Soutik Biswas on the Indian government's objections.

Atonement director Joe Wright told Variety magazine he was 'between a rock and a hard place' because the studio wanted to make it a love story while the Indian government wanted to make it more about the history.

Wright wanted to film in India to make the film rich in heritage and authenticity while giving Indian citizens the opportunity to be used as extras in large crowd scenes.

So here is the question I pose to you classmates;

Should a country's government censor the script of a movie filmed in their country?

Let me use an example that doesn't involve non-ficition. Eli Roth was allowed to film his horror film epics 'Hostel' and it's subsequent sequels in Barrandov Studios, Prague and in Český Krumlov, Czech Republic even thought the film is set in Slovakia. As a result, the Slovakian government was appalled and mortified at the rough portrayal of their country while Roth argued the ferocity of the location was to add to the ambience, adding that even though Texas Chainsaw Massacre is set in Texas, it doesn't discourage people from going to Texas.

BBC News Article

BBC's Soutik Biswas's blog on the matter

Hostel on wikipedia

New Smartphone to give iPhone some competition?

Verizon is rumored to release the new DROID smartphone on October 30th. While the iPhone currently holds the title as the most technologically advanced phone, it has been said that the DROID may give Apple a run for their money. Other wireless providers have introduced touch screen phones, but none so far have been able to compete with the iPhone.

The DROID will have a competitive price of somewhere between 100 to 200 dollars. While this phone will never replace the iPhone, it is said that this comparative product will give Apple a "jab in the ribs". Honestly, as soon as this product is released there will likely be a buzz about it for a while but only until the "next big thing" is introduced. Apple has already had huge success with the new 3G iPhone. it is only a matter of time before they will introduce a new model or a revised version.

Who is to say that the Verizon DROID will even be successful? It may be like the other Smartphones that were said to be able to compete with the iPhone, yet paled in comparison. Only time will tell!

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/Verizon-Droid-Smartphone-Could-Give-iPhone-a-Jab-in-the-Ribs-211155/

First HDTV, now 3-D TV

It took more than 15 years to roll out digital HDTV in the U.S. The transmission switch from analog was just completed this summer and TV manufacturers are already thinking of the next innovation: 3D-TV.

You recall from class....we talked about Hollywood's fascination with 3D movies.

Hitachi has developed a 3-D set that does not require the goofy glasses. The bad news: there's no word yet on when the sets will be available to consumers and at what price. It will also be interesting to follow the development. Will another company come out with a competing 3-D format, like BlueRay and HD-DVD or Betamax and VHS. Here's a brief entry for the Hitachi set.

http://blogs.zdnet.com/home-theater/?p=1724&tag=nl.e539

A book started for children, now a movie for who?

This weekend was a big one for the movie industry. “Where the Wild Things Are” was No.1 with $32.5 million, according to ABC News. Surprisingly, the movies success came from adult audiences and not families. 43% of the audience was people 18 and older according to Warner Bros. There was a disagreement between the Spike Jonze the director and Warner Bros. The director wanted to convey a movie that was right on with the book. Warner Bros. wanted a more family approved film. They ended up compromising and supported the director by doing a campaign for “Wild Things”.
The movie is a about a little mischievous boy who imagines running away to a land of wild creatures. He envisions his own world away from reality; I believe that is why this movie was such a big hit with the adult audiences. People want an escape now more than ever. If people go out they want something enjoyable like this movie. It takes adults back to childhood memories and might give them a burst of spirit; I think that’s why it did so well with the older audience. The little boy becomes the king of the wild things and declares activities they begin to take part in. The movie brings the sounds and pictures to life, it creates what each child imagines when they read the book. A five minute to read book and transformed it into a 94 minute film full imagination, creativity, love, and excitement.

Check out the article about the movie at: http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=8856757