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Bing Vision, Newspaper Imaging Coming to Windows Phones in UK

V3 — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 08:00:00 +0000

Bing Vision add-on will add the option to scan in QR and bar codes as well as image recognition tools that will allow users to view sites and retail information by scanning images. Bing Imaging for Newspapers will also launch in March.

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Bing Vision, Newspaper Imaging Coming to Windows Phones in UK

Twitter Tries to Hook Local SMBs on Self-Serve Advertising

ClickZ — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 06:00:00 +0000

Twitter and American Express have announced a partnership that will see the companies offer $100 of complimentary Twitter advertising to the first 10,000 SMBs that sign up. Participants will gain access to Twitter’s self-service advertising system.

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Twitter Tries to Hook Local SMBs on Self-Serve Advertising

Comcast’s New Streampix is About Giving Customers What They Want

Cynthia Boris — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 23:13:32 +0000

Comcast has a new video streaming service called Streampix that allows users to watch old movies and TV shows on demand. The general consensuses on the web is that the service will become a direct competitor to Netflix, and Boston.com even went so far as to blame the Comcast announcement for a drop in Netflix’s stock price . The Streampix service will be free to anyone who already subscribes to Comcast’s Xfinity premium service. For other Comcast subscribers, it can be accessed for only $4.99 a month, which is cheaper than Netflix’s base price of $7.99 a month. Sure sounds like Comcast is out to take Netflix down, but the reality is, the cable company is simply trying to stay competitive in a rapidly changing media world. Comcast’s biggest rivals are the satellite companies who are always trying to woo TV viewers away with more channels at a better price. Add to that the proliferation of TV shows and movies available on the web and on mobile devices and it’s easy to see why cable operators don’t sleep well at night. So Comcast is doing what lots of companies are doing, finding a way to use what they have to create a better customer experience. In this case, Comcast has access to thousands of hours of NBCUniversal productions (Comcast has a controlling interest in the company) along with some programming from Disney, Warner Brothers and Sony. By making these older titles available for streaming, Comcast pulls in the die-hard TV fans who would rather watch old Heroes episodes than new episodes of American Idol. They also capture the TV Everywhere people who don’t sit down to watch prime time TV at prime time. The way we consume media is changing and everyone in the business has to find a way to catch up and stay relevant if they want to stay in business.

Daily Search Forum Recap: February 22, 2012

barry@rustybrick.com Barry Schwartz — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 22:16:15 +0000

Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today…

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Daily Search Forum Recap: February 22, 2012

SearchCap: The Day In Search, February 22, 2012

Barry Schwartz — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 22:02:17 +0000

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Bing Linked Pages: Better People Search Results Microsoft Bing announced a new feature named Linked Pages. The purpose is to make the search results for you and… Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.

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SearchCap: The Day In Search, February 22, 2012

BloomReach Marketing Platform Aims to Expose Your Best Content in Organic Search & Social

Miranda Miller — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 22:00:00 +0000

Cloud marketing platform BloomReach has launched with a suite of three intelligent discovery tools for businesses. BloomReach accomplishes some pretty incredible things for web businesses in need of a holistic, well-rounded marketing approach.

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BloomReach Marketing Platform Aims to Expose Your Best Content in Organic Search & Social

BloomReach SEO Platform Aims to Expose Your Best Content in Organic Search & Social Channels

Miranda Miller — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 22:00:00 +0000

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BloomReach SEO Platform Aims to Expose Your Best Content in Organic Search & Social Channels

Mobile Ad Dollars Versus Time Spent: The Great Divide

Cynthia Boris — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 21:25:19 +0000

There’s a certain logic to the concept of spending the most ad dollars in places where people spend the most time. But then, bus shelter ads are effective. People don’t spend a lot of time there, but when they are there, they’re bored and probably more likely to examine the ad than an ad on a flipping magazine page. Flurry took a look at the Time vs Dollars ratio and here’s what they found: TV is looking nice and even. Web dollars are catching up to time spent and Radio is balancing out. But look at print and mobile. Talk about out of whack. It’s interesting, because mobile is slowly becoming print’s replacement. Instead of buying the Wall Street Journal, people read it on their iPad. Instead of reading the TV Guide magazine, they let their smartphones remind them when their favorite shows are on. But look at the dollar discrepancy! Mobile, I get. The technology is growing and changing faster than we can keep up, so I’m not surprised that ad dollars are lagging. But why are we still dumping all that money into print? Someone must be making money here or it wouldn’t still be riding that high. My guess would be advertisers in women’s magazines.

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Mobile Ad Dollars Versus Time Spent: The Great Divide

Tesla Roadster facing ‘brick’ battery problems?

Sebastian Blanco — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 21:01:00 +0000

Filed under: EV/Plug-in , Tesla Motors , AutoblogGreen Exclusive Here’s a new worry for electric car owners: bricking your new, expensive ride. Using a word taken from the computer world , to “brick” an EV means to make your electronic device inoperable. In the case of an EV, it would mean to run the battery state of charge so far down that nothing works anymore, thus requiring an expensive flatbed tow and an even more expensive battery pack – about $40,000 in a Tesla Roadster . This is the charge of Michael Degusta, who wrote a detailed post on the matter in which he claims there have been five cases of Roadsters being bricked that he knows about. Since this is the first we’ve heard about it (and we imagine all those Silicon Valley Roadster owners know a thing or two about Internet communication), we’re surprised we didn’t hear about this before the alleged problem claimed five non-working cars. Thus, we figure there’s more to the story, especially since some people are already poking holes in some of Degusta’s statements . We’ve emailed Degusta and asked him to provide further proof of and details about these bricked cars, but he has not responded yet. For its part, Tesla has offered AutoblogGreen a fairly noncommittal statement on the matter: All automobiles require some level of owner care. For example, combustion vehicles require regular oil changes or the engine will be destroyed. Electric vehicles should be plugged in and charging when not in use for maximum performance. All batteries are subject to damage if the charge is kept at zero for long periods of time. However, Tesla avoids this problem in virtually all instances with numerous counter-measures. Tesla batteries can remain unplugged for weeks (even months), without reaching zero state of charge. Owners of Roadster 2.0 and all subsequent Tesla products can request that their vehicle alert Tesla if SOC falls to a low level. All Tesla vehicles emit various visual and audible warnings if the battery pack falls below 5 percent SOC. Tesla provides extensive maintenance recommendations as part of the customer experience . It’s also true that all vehicles will require some attention if they sit unused too long, and people know what happens if you leave your laptop unplugged for two weeks. In the owner’s manual for the Roadster 2.0/Roadster Sport, Tesla does say that “Over-discharge can permanently damage the Battery” and that “If storing for more than 15 days, it is strongly recommended that you keep it plugged in” (see the full section on “Leaving the vehicle unplugged” after the jump, or download the manual in PDF here ), but it doesn’t specify what sort of damage that is, or how expensive it might be to fix it. Tesla spokesman Ricardo Reyes did tell AutoblogGreen that he is working to demystify the situation and will get back to us with more information.

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Tesla Roadster facing ‘brick’ battery problems?

SES London 2012 – Day 2 Coverage #SESLondon

Danny Goodwin — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 21:00:00 +0000

Day 2 of SES London 2012 has come to a close. The day, much like Day 1, was packed full of great tips and strategies on SEO tools and metrics, PPC architecture, and more. Here’s a roundup of today’s live blogging and coverage of SES London 2012.

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SES London 2012 – Day 2 Coverage #SESLondon