Tech Crunch 2.0

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

SAMSUNG Launches the World’s First ‘Optical Joystick’ Phone

Samsung Electronics , a leading provider and innovator of mobile phones, launches the world's first mobile phone featuring a n optical joystick for a whole new mobile experience.

Samsung 's latest ‘Optical Joystick' Phone (Model: SCH-V960 ) is suited with the latest technology that may revolutionize the way users interact with the menu and user interface of mobile handsets. Users utilize the optical joystick key by placing their finger and moving a cursor to navigate through the menu, similar to a cursor of a mouse on a PC .

Optical sensors will read and react to users' finger movement, thus breaking down the traditional four-way menu navigation and providing 360 degrees of freedom. The familiarity and free movement of the V960's Optica l Joystick will result in quick and hassle-free menu navigation.

Users can point the cursor and click directly on icons on MyScreen, similar interface to that on a PC environment, and gain direct access to frequently used menus such as photo album, messaging, and music menu. Users can also use the Optical Joystick to easily scroll through the play list while listening to their music.

Through an illumination sensor, the Samsung V960 also includes a 'Smart Lighting' feature that automatically controls the brightness of the LCD screen and keypad. By using the 'Smart Lighting' feature, users are protected from eye strain and will minimize power consumption for increased efficiency. In addition, the V960 also supports a 2 megapixel camera, GPS and Bluetooth ® function.

Soruce: Samsung.com

Monday, December 18, 2006

Google Adsense clarifies Ad and image placement policy

Here is some clarfication from Inside Adsense on Ad and image placement.

We've recently received a number of emails from publishers asking how we feel about the placement of images near Google ad units. There's been some confusion on this issue, and so we turned to our policy team to set the record straight.

Can I place small images next to my Google ads?

We ask that publishers not line up images and ads in a way that suggests a relationship between the images and the ads. If your visitors believe that the images and the ads are directly associated, or that the advertiser is offering the exact item found in the neighboring image, they may click the ad expecting to find something that isn't actually being offered. That's not a good experience for users or advertisers.

Publishers should also be careful to avoid similar implementations that people could find misleading. For instance, if your site contains a directory of Flash games, you should not format the ads to mimic the game descriptions.

What if I place a space or a line between my images and my ads? Would that work?

No. If the ads and the images appear to be associated, inserting a small space or a line between the images and ads will not make the implementation compliant.

Does this mean I can't place ads on pages with images?

You can definitely place Google ads on pages containing images -- just make sure that the ads and images are not arranged in a way that could easily mislead or confuse your visitors. For example, if you run a stock photography site with a catalog of thumbnail images, don't line the ads up with the thumbnails in a way that could be misleading. Consider using a full border around your ads or changing your ad colors, for example.

What do unacceptable implementations look like?

Here are some examples that wouldn't comply with our policies.

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Jaxtr lets friends phone you on your blog

A Silicon Valley start-up is gearing up to embed free, Web-based telephone services on a variety of popular social networking and blogging services, including MySpace, Friendster and Blogger.

By contrast with existing Web calling services such as Skype that are typically computer-based, or require consumers to buy special headsets or microphones, Jaxtr plans to allows users to make inbound calls to bloggers from any phone in the world.

Jaxtr, a 14-month-old closely held company based in Palo Alto California, said it is beginning a test by private invitation of its new calling service, with plans to make it widely available to Web users sometime early in the new year.

In addition, Jaxtr said that Konstantin Guericke, co-founder of business social networking site LinkedIn, has joined the Web-calling company as chief executive. Jaxtr was founded by entrepreneurs Phillip Mobin and Touraj Parang.

For Jaxtr's target audience of young Web users, when they are not spending time chatting with one another on their social network pages, they are probably available on a mobile phone. "We bring those two phenomenon together," Guericke said.

Once registered on Jaxtr's site at http://www.jaxtr.com, a user can embed an interactive phone feature into selected blogs or social network profiles -- News Corp.'s MySpace, Tagged, Friendster, Hi5, Xanga and Google's Blogger.

Consumers will be able to click on any Jaxtr link, enter their own phone number, which triggers an instant call to their phone. Answering the phone connects the caller to the Jaxtr user's own phone. Callers then speak phone to phone.

The private test underway this week will be extended to friends of initial participants later this month. Jaxtr expects to earn revenue from power users, advertising and enhanced calling features, the company said. "I think this is going to spread very quickly," Guericke said.

The service provides local phone numbers that allow callers to eliminate expensive international long distance charges from any of 29 national markets in Europe, the Americas and Asia. Initial countries range from United States to most of Western Europe to Brazil, Chile and Mexico and Japan and Singapore.

While one of a proliferating number of voice over Internet companies challenging conventional phone industry economics, Jaxtr is not a direct phone company rival, as it still pays interconnection charges and encourages use of standard phones.

Jaxtr, a play on the phrase "jack your phone," promises its users can hear from callers through their Web site profiles while preserving the privacy of their existing phone numbers.

An alternative is for users simply to add a personalized Jaxtr link to their e-mail signature -- creating a second way to invite their friends to call them back for free -- by clicking on the link or by placing an inexpensive local call. Similarly, an Evite party invite could have a Jaxtr call link.

No special software needs to be downloaded, nor do users need to first sign up their friends or family to benefit. Only the recipient of Jaxtr calls need to sign up for the service. It's a Web-based version of the decade-old dial-around services that allow callers to bypass international phone charges.

When a call recipient is unavailable, the caller can leave a voice mail message. Recipients can block unwanted callers or only invite selected callers. Callers need not be registered with Jaxtr, only the recipient of the call needs to be.

A recipient gets to choose which of their phones receive the call. One can switch between a home, office or mobile phone, for example.

Source : Yahoo News

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Hackers to step up 'cyberwar' in 2007

CNN reports that Hackers may step up Cyber War and online attacks becoming more sophisticated. Here are some excerpts ..

"
Computer hackers will open a new front in the multi-billion pound "cyberwar" in 2007, targeting mobile phones, instant messaging and community Web sites such as MySpace, security experts predict.

As people grow wise to email scams, criminal gangs will find new ways to commit online fraud, sell fake goods or steal corporate secrets.

"The attacks are becoming more sophisticated," said Dave Rand of Internet security firm Trend Micro. "It's all about making money. And they're making a lot of it," he told Reuters.

In 2007, hackers will be scouring social networking sites such as MySpace to gather information for more focused attacks on people's computers.

"It is definitely an area that is ripe for more exploitation by malware (malicious software)," said Ed English, Trend Micro's Chief Technology Officer for anti-spyware.

People could find their computers infected with viruses that secretly record all their keystrokes or send out millions of spam email messages.
"

Source: Click here for more ...

Monday, December 11, 2006

Google AdSense for content in 4 new languages

Just read this from Inside Adsense. Non English bloggers will gear up with more content and in turn for more money. Indian bloggers writing in any of the Indian languages still have to wait.

"We're excited to tell you that AdSense for content is now supported in Croatian, Czech, Slovak, and Traditional Chinese. If you manage a site in one of these four languages, you can now complement your existing AdSense for search boxes (and revenue) with contextually-targeted AdSense ads!

To get started with generating your AdSense for content code, just visit the AdSense Setup tab in your account. Please keep in mind that after you add the ad code to a new page, it can take up to 48 hours for our crawler to access your site. Once your site has been crawled, our system will automatically detect the primary language of your pages and serve targeted ads in the correct language.

Welcome (or Dobrodošlica / Vítame / 歡迎) to our new AdSense for content publishers!

Source: AdSense for content in 4 new languages

Wednesday, December 6, 2006

Advertise online - even if you don't have a website

AdWords advertisers know that online advertising is an effective way to promote their businesses. What do you do, however, if you want to advertise online, but you don't have a website? Does this sound familiar? Here is help.

Hosted business pages, a new feature for AdWords Starter Edition, will let you do just that. A hosted business page is an informational webpage that new advertisers can create when they sign up for AdWords Starter Edition. You can use a hosted business page to tell people more about your business when they click on your ad. For example, if you own a restaurant, you might write about your award-winning cannoli; if you are a tailor, potential customers would be thrilled to read about your 48 hour turnaround on alterations.

Hosted business pages are now available for new US advertisers using AdWords Starter Edition. It's important to note that a hosted business page is not a full-featured website with its own domain name, but rather a single landing page for your AdWords ads. Hosted business pages are free with a new AdWords account, and can be set up with no knowledge of HTML.

If you're already an AdWords advertiser, perhaps you'd like to tell your favorite local restaurant owner that they can now advertise online, even if they don't have a website. Just watch out for the crowds of new customers.

Source: adwords.blogspot.com

Tuesday, December 5, 2006

Other Advertising Networks Besides Google AdSense

Popular blogger John Chow has managed to put a list of Money Making Networks other than Goolge Adsense.

He says "When bloggers think of online advertising, the words Google AdSense immediately pops to mind. Google had done an amazing job capturing the internet advertising market with the AdSense product. However, Google is not the only game in town. As a webmaster, it is your duty to seek out other ways to monetize your site. As we all know, putting all your eggs in one basket isn’t the smartest thing to do."