Social Items

Twitter could be cooking-up an ad exchange program, according to a report credited to AdAge. The report has it that the Twitter Ad Exchange program is aimed to bolster the company revenue system and as a challenge to Facebook owned Ad Exchange, FBX.

The Ad re-targeting exchange will employ user tracking mechanisms to determine previous pages visited by a user and then re-target them with display ads on the network. It uses cookies to track users and re-targets them when a partner bids to target such user on the social network.

Twitter is already rallying for support from several FBX partners who are experienced in brand re-targeting to make the program a success. The talks, however are still in hush-hush, as Twitter has not briefed partners on actual launch date.

The micro-blogging platform has been saddled with revenue issues and would want to explore any possible means to end the crunch race. Albeit, the company did not respond to request for further information on the purported ad exchange program, close sources have validated the claims.

Perhaps, it won't be long before we start seeing the early track on the ads program. And Twitter is also expected to pursue an IPO next year, the new revenue system is seen as a means to avoid pre-IPO push back.

Is Twitter Prepping Ad Re-targeting Exchange?

There's nothing quite as nice as curling up on the sofa and watching your favorite film. If, like many people, you consider yourself to be a film fanatic, it's likely that you have built up quite a large collection of DVDs and Blu-Rays over the years. However, most of us, if we're being honest, only re-watch a small percentage of the films that we have in our collection. The others are usually left on our shelves, collecting dust. Moreover, as we get older, our taste in films tends to change. You might, for example, have adored action-packed blockbusters a few years ago, but now prefer foreign or indie productions.

If this is the case for you, it might be time to do a clear out of your Blu-Rays and DVDs and decide what you should do with them. If you have a number of films that are in good condition, but which you know you are unlikely to ever watch again, you may want to sell them. This way, you can make a little extra cash and declutter your house. On top of this, your old DVDs will end up going to a good home and may end up becoming someone else favorite films.

Auction Sites

The first option, if you want to try selling films online, is to use an auction site. On this type of site, you can list your item at either a fixed price or a starting price. They're relatively easy to use and you should be able to make a sale quite quickly. However, do bear in mind that you will probably incur seller's fees and so if you're selling your DVDs and Blu-Rays for a relatively small amount of money, it may not be worth your while. In addition, if you want to draw attention to your listing, you will have to spend some time taking clear photos of your items and writing up an accurate description for each one. This can be time consuming and so may not be the best option if you want a hassle free way of getting rid of your goods.

Trade In

Another option is to trade in your DVDs and Blu-Rays for cash on specialist sites; there are several of them on the web. These sites make the process of getting rid of your old movies easy. You can normally just type in the title of your old film into the site search box and you'll be given a value for it instantly. Some sites also allow you to scan the Blu-Ray or DVD's barcode using an app on your phone or by using your webcam. Then, it's simply a case of sending off your items and getting paid. The process is quick and uncomplicated and perfect if you want to clear out your shelves without any bother.

What Should You Do With You Old Films?

Google has released Chrome 27 to the stable channel according to the official Chrome Releases blog on Wednesday, with slew of improvements which includes the ability to engage in a conversation with the iconic search engine, Google on desktop computers.

Google had earlier made its voice search feature available for mobile, Google Now, on Android and iOS devices, which has greatly improved general search experience on smartphones and tablet devices.

Now, Google voice search can be experienced right on your desktop computer once you've got Chrome 27 installed. The feature allows you to engage in a direct conversation with Google instead of typing search queries, simply speak your search terms and Google will respond with the answer.

The new search innovation rides on its Knowledge Graph technology to arrive at a more accurate answers to your search queries. Unlike conventional search pattern that relies on keywords, the Knowledge Graph brings semantic understanding to search experience, an intelligent model that relates to real-world events and entities.

The feature adds to already growing voice technologies coming to the web, and also recently, the Web Speech API was demonstrated with stunning results signaling the beginning of more intelligent voice applications coming to the web soon.

Chrome 27 brings Smarter Voice Search on Desktop

Google's obsession for speed and faster deployment of images on the web led to the development of WebP, an open-source image format which is an improvement on the compression that JPEG and PNG provides. WebP was officially announced in September 2010, as an alternative image format, with significant bytes savings of about 30% - 80% compared to JPEG and PNG.

The open-source image format, WebP took a center stage at the just concluded developers' conference Google I/O, with session covering the latest features, news and future roadmap of the WebP format.

Google has effectively implemented the new image format on its social networking platform, Google+ Android App and a host of other web service companies including Facebook have joined the WebP bandwagon. WebP's unique features includes ability to render transparent sections of an image with lossless compression as in the case of PNG and lossy as in JPEG (Lossy compression is shrinking of file with data losses, while Lossless compression retains original image).

Albeit, PNG supports image transparency, JPEG not supported; WebP can offer both transparent and more beautiful smaller fill size of lossy compression.

The encoding is based on Google VP8 codec, applied through the infra frame coding to push the envelope in still image coding. And runs on the WebM technology, which means any hardware that supports WebM will also support WebP.

The company hopes to push WebP into replacing current image formats, JPEG and PNG on the pros of increased efficiency and rendering speed recorded in the new format.

Google's WebP: Future Image Format?

Google at its ongoing developers' conference Google I/O, announced the integration of Google Wallet (the company's online payment system) with Gmail, allowing users to send money directly within emails. The innovative feature, "payment-via-email" is aimed to boost the reach of Google Wallet service among other things.

Google Wallet availability via Gmail means users can now securely send money to friends and family without the hassles of leaving their inbox.



The service is free to send money if your bank account is linked to Google Wallet or you're using your Google Wallet Balance, according to the company's blog. While sending money using your linked credit or debit card attracts low charges.

The feature will be rolling-out to Gmail users ages 18+ in United States in the next few months. And to activate, simply look for the $ icon in your attachment options.

However, if your friends have early access and send money to you, you'll automatically get access to use the service.Whereas, without getting a payment from someone with early access to the service, you'll have to wait until the service have been rolled-out to everyone to activate.

The company is hoping to drive more users to its payment service by this new feature and intend to make it go viral in the coming months.

Google Wallet is now Integrated with Gmail

Adobe's Creative Suite CS6 launch about a year ago created a unique new way for the company to license it's product offering: introducing the Creative Cloud service, which affords users access to Adobe's software library for a monthly or annual fee.

Creative Cloud makes Adobe's applications available in an entirely unique way not before thought possible, via a subscription model for the very first time. What this means for users is that instead of coughing-out a whopping Adobe Software license fee, they can have complete access to Adobe's Software library at a more tenable monthly or yearly fee as the case may be.

The line of argument, however, is on the fact that a Master Collection license is forever, while on the Creative Cloud service, constant subscription charges are applied.

On individual usage calculation, if you require Adobe's application for a brief spell, then the Creative Cloud option seems a better bargain. But for those professionals who are always on the job, a Master Collection license is best.

Also, non power users are at a more disadvantage with Creative Cloud option, as the same charges apply even when fewer applications are actually used. While, on the Master Suite you can purchase license on only selectable applications you require.

The pros of Creative Cloud hinges on features like cloud storage and syncing options available on the service. Perhaps, software as a service (SaaS) offerings will take a clue here, given that Adobe's business model, Creative Cloud is gaining more and more attention, lately.

Adobe Creative Cloud: What You Need to Know?

Microsoft web-mail service, Outlook.com is indeed building up to challenge the Gmail advances with slew of innovative features coming to the messaging platform. The new web-mail service already boast of the best social integration with Skype, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn connections and now, has added Google chat integration according to the Outlook blog.

Microsoft's openness to users demand is becoming more evidence, hence the endless pool of features to improve users experience across its service offerings.

Google chat integration means users can connect with friends using Google services without leaving the messaging platform. The feature is currently rolling out and so may take some more days to get across all users.

Microsoft recently launched two-factor authentication system to beef of security across its services, and the good part, it's open to all locations unlike Google's 2-Step Verification which omitted some really heavy users' country like Nigeria in the supported country list.

Outlook.com also support core security standards like DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance) making the platform impregnable to phishing attacks.

Perhaps, going by the tempo of innovative additions, Outlook.com may eventually become the Gmail Killer analysts have dubbed it.

Google Chat Comes to Outlook.com

Mozilla Foundation has been at the forefront of innovations coming to the web, promoting openness and opportunity, currently advancing the web as a platform for gaming with its latest experiments on JavaScript. The company through its "extremely restricted" subset of JavaScript is now wooing developers and publishers to take advantage of the fast performance that rivals native applications without the additional costs.



Mozilla's ASM.js project is perhaps the greatest bet on the proliferation of web application, with the ability to supercharge developers' gaming program on the browser, visually compelling, and fast 3D gaming experience.

Epic Games is among the early birds in the Mozilla project, teaming up with the open source giant to leverage the scale of the web to distribute stunning and performance intensive games to billions of web users without the additional costs associated with third-party plugins.

Mozilla demonstrated how it was unlocking the web as a platform for gaming in the announcement of a port of Unreal Engine 3 running on Firefox compiled from C++ source with Emscripten, running efficiently without the need for plugins.

And in conjunction with Epic Games has gone ahead to demo "Epic Citadel", so that users can try it out themselves. However, it's recommended that you use the newest version of Firefox Nightly (Firefox 23 and above) for better experience.

Game developers have been called upon to explore the possibilities of the web as a platform for gaming by visiting Mozilla's Developers Gaming Network. Also, those wishing to port their already existing games can find useful information through the Emscripten Project page.

Mozilla: Web As a Platform for Gaming

Microsoft search engine, Bing debuted its social search feature exactly about a year ago today, bringing the integration of Facebook information stream to open search. The latest update to the social search service now includes Facebook friends connection.

Bing.com deeper integration with Facebook, connecting searchers' with friends help in making more informed recommendations on search queries based on users experience, as conventional internet search becomes more gamed, its harder for web searchers to get trusted information.

Now, the possibility of having friends who have had direct experience regards your search query can be really comforting, and removes every uncertainty when users ask those friends for guidance.

Microsoft partnership with Facebook is perhaps geared to match Google in its game. Google has deeply integrated its social network Google+ into overall information stream in Google search, making it possible for users to get trusted recommendation on searched terms based on connections on Google+ service.

However, Bing social integration provided a separate search columns, while Google's directly stream with open search. The separate search columns means users have control over the information pattern made available to them.

The service, however has not been rolled out to all users, but can be accessed by visiting the test page: www.bing.com/new on your browser while logged into Facebook. Microsoft plans eventual roll-out of the service unto the main Bing search page in the coming week.

Bing Social Integration Adds Friends Connection

As more consumers than ever before now makes majority of their purchases online, both established and start-up businesses have come to recognize the importance of online presence. If you are thinking about starting your own e-commerce business, you'll find no shortage of tools available to help you with everything from web design to market research. This has helped break down the barriers to successful e-commerce business transactions, even for those with little experience in the field. The following are a few useful tools that can help you grow your e-commerce business.

Website Design and Shopping Cart Services

The first major task that any e-commerce business must contend with is setting up a user-friendly website. There are numerous e-commerce platforms and shopping cart programs which allow you to do this using an all-in-one package. Open source e-commerce tools or software often features secure web hosting, domain name registration, content management systems, and web design templates. They also allow you to enable payments on your website, using multiple payment gateways. Some of the big names in shopping cart services include Bigcommerce, Shopify, and Pinnacle Cart.

Keyword Research Tools

Google offers numerous analytical tools which can be of great use to e-commerce businesses. You can use their Keyword Tool to research the volume of specific keywords or phrases. This allows you to find out how many potential customers are searching for words related to your products, which can give you some indication of the market size. This information can also help you find out how competitive certain search terms are, which allows you to work out an SEO strategy. Another useful research tool put out by Google is Google Trends, which lets you find out whether your products or industry is more of a fad, or a growing market. This can help you with basic market research without hiring a separate consultant.

Market Research Tools

As you research your potential market, you will also want to find out how competitors in the same industry are doing. Using tools like Alexa.com allows you to see visitor demographics from similar websites, which can help you narrow down your target market. You can also use online tools to help you price your items more effectively. Alibaba.com allows you to search for wholesale items, to find out what their base rate is. You can compare this to competitor prices to get a feel for what a reasonable mark-up would be.

Shipping Tools

Shipping can be one of the biggest logistical issues and costs for a new e-commerce business to work through. One solution is to sign up with a drop ship business. Essentially, this allows you to advertise the products of your choice on your website and then leave the actual shipping in the hands of the wholesaler. It eliminates the need to hold onto inventory and deal with shipping.

The Most Useful Online Tools for E-commerce Business

Google's video sharing platform, YouTube could be working on the launch of paid subscription service for some specialized video channels according to a report on CNET. YouTube had been saddled with revenue issues despite the great pool of users the platform has generated lately.

Earlier in February, YouTube confirmed on the rumor that it was developing a paid subscription service, but declined to pinpoint when it will be ready for launch.

The company, however, was quick to label the news leak as "looking into creating a subscription channel that could bring even more great content to YouTube for our users to enjoy and provide our creators with another vehicle to generate revenue from their content, beyond the rental and ad-supported models we offer".

YouTube had according to the report entered into partnership with some leading producers about creating contents for a paid subscription platform.

Apparently, if the report is to be believed, YouTube paid subscription channels may be going live within the week. Albeit, the company declined to confirm the report, evidence can still be seen in the new coding on Android version of the app that referred to paid subscription.

Is YouTube Prepping Paid Subscription Channels?

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