WildBlueSkies - Trends and strategies in Digital Media

In a move that will tie up its various education related initiatives (think education fairs and exhibitions), Manorama Online, the new media division of the Kerala based Malayala Manorama, has launched ManoramaHorizon.com - an education portal.
Based on the listing model ManoramaHorizon.com will allow educational institutes to enlist their names on the website and provide details about the courses they offer says Afaqs!. Apart from listing of colleges, the website will also carry education related news and career guidance articles. Initially, the news content will be offered in Malayalam. It will also be available in English later on. Read more »

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With this little enhancement, you will now be able to search the web from Gmail without leaving your Gmail window.
Turn it on from the Labs tab under Settings, you’ll see a new search box on the left side of your inbox.
Type your search in, and a window (like a chat window, but a bit bigger) appears at the bottom of your screen with the first few search results.
Clicking on a search result and it’ll open up in another window (or another tab) so you can make sure it’s what you’re looking for. Once you’re sure it’s a result you need, moving your mouse over the result back in Gmail reveals a pull-down menu that lets you do stuff with the search result. Read more »

Filed under: Product Features | 1 Comment »

Currently, 27.9 million US Internet users have a blog they update at least once per month, and they represent 14% of the Internet population. By 2013, 37.6 million users will update their blogs at least monthly.
eMarketer estimates that in 2009 96.6 million US Internet users will read a blog at least once per month. By 2013, 128.2 million people, or 58% of all US users, will do the same.
As the influence of blogs increase, expect these to be the next emphasis area for marketeers.

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The fifth most popular web brand online with an estimated 83 million visitors in February - that’s YouTube for you. Estimates reckon that 41% of all US video streams will go through YouTube in 2009, thanks to over 375 million unique viewers worldwide.
However, revenue continues to elude YouTube. eMarketer tabulated what several sources in the market research community have estimated YouTube’s revenues (for 2008 or 2009, as noted): Read more »

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Mumbai-based Ideacts Innovations, which makes software products targeting cyber cafes, has raised series-B venture capital funding from Sequoia Capital India and Silicon Valley Bank says VCCircle.
Ideacts had raised $5 million from Sequoia Capital in 2007, but the amount raised in second round is higher than first (Economic Times puts it between $5-9 million).
Founded in March 2007, Ideacts is an internet media venture which had launched CLINCK, an active desktop application, which creates a default interface for users to access Internet, and claimed 21,071 terminals at the time of writing this post. Read more »

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Sure, spam is irritating and frustrating for all of us and it shows no signs of slowing down, but if anyone needed yet another reason for stopping spam, consider this - the annual energy used to transmit, process and filter spam totals 33 billion kilowatt-hours (kwh) - equivalent to the electricity used in 2.4 million US homes—and creating the same greenhouse gas emissions as 3.1 million cars using 2 billion gallons of gasoline, says eMarketer.
As an example, in late 2008, McColo, a major source of spam, was taken offline—and global spam volume dropped 70%. The energy saved in the lull before spammers rebuilt sending capacity was the same as taking 2.2 million cars off the road that day. Read more »

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Come September 20, and telecom subscribers should be able to change their number from one mobile service provider to another for a mere Rs. 300 or less, while retaining their original phone number.
Eagerly awaited, and much delayed, hopefully this will also lead to the service providers improving the quality of their services - lately, the number of calls dropping, and non-connectivity due to traffic congestion has been increasing exponentially. Read more »

Filed under: Mobile, News | No Comments »

Even as video game console shipments decline during the global recession, growth in online gaming subscriptions is expected to be grow a projected 20.4% between 2005 and 2013 due to a sizable console installed base and growing consumer awareness of online gaming, says In-Stat.
Some highlights of the report, Despite Slowing Console Sales, Online Gaming Subscriber Growth Continuing Worldwide, which covers forecasts for online game subscribers annually through 2013 for online-capable game console and handheld consoles, and not PC online gaming or casual gaming: Read more »

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The collection, Mobile Learning: Transforming the Delivery of Education and Training, is for anyone interested in the use of mobile technology for various distance learning applications. Readers will discover how to design learning materials for delivery on mobile technology and become familiar with the best practices of other educators, trainers, and researchers in the field, as well as the most recent initiatives in mobile learning research. Businesses and governments can learn how to deliver timely information to staff using mobile devices. Professors can use this book as a textbook for courses on distance education, mobile learning, and educational technology. Read more »

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A first of its kind, the International Journal of Learning and Media is devoted to examining the intersection of media and learning in multiple contexts.
Volume 1, Issue 1, edited by David Buckingham, Tara McPherson and Katie Salen, is now available for FREE at http://ijlm.net.
While IJLM retains the peer-review process of a traditional scholarly journal, its editorial vision and electronic-only format permit more topical and polemic writing, visual and multimedia presentations, and online dialogues. IJLM will allow the broad community interested in digital media and learning to share its insights using the tools of digital media. Sections of the journal range from shorter pieces on critical issues of a timely nature, through longer essays on keywords shaping the landscape of learning and media today, to traditional peer-reviewed scholarly articles.
The development and publication of IJLM is supported by a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation as part of its 5-year, $50 million, initiative in digital media and learning.

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