Mediaboss Marketing

Contrary to expectations, Google's entertainment system project will have nothing to do with streaming TV shows, and instead will focus on music. "Google Inc. is developing a home-entertainment system that streams music wirelessly throughout the home and would be marketed under the company's own brand," The Wall Street Journal's Amir Efrati reports. Considering that the masses have yet to embrace the current streaming TV devices, leaving space for something revolutionary to address a market niche, we wonder why Google has chosen music as the priority for its first Google-made gadget. 

In some ways, perhaps it makes sense. Google's never made something on its own. The company outsourced hardware to Logitech and Sony for its TV, and look how well that went. Sales lagged, and Logitech eventually slashed prices. Instead of debuting its first wholly Google product with something risky and flashy like TV, this might act as a nice test drive for a future mind-blowing all-inclusive streaming wonder product (in our dreams). Google has all the other parts to create an Apple-esque Airplay set-up, which streams music from iTunes to other Mac products. Google has tablets and phones. Google has a music store. Putting it all together should go rather smoothly. 

But, this niche doesn't really need filling. All the current less-than-ideal "streaming TV" sets and boxes incorporate music services, like Spotify and Pandora. So why just focus on music? 

In fairness, it's unclear from the Journal report whether Google only has musical aspirations. "Digital media" could mean shows and movies. What is clear is that streaming is the future. According to new research via The New York Times's Brian Stelter, the 12- to 34-year-old demographic is spending less time in front of a set:

Adults ages 25 to 34, for instance, watched about four and a half fewer hours of television in the third quarter of 2011 than at the same time in 2010 — the equivalent of about nine minutes a day. Viewers ages 12 to 17 also watched about nine fewer minutes a day. The demographic in between, those ages 18 to 24, watched about six fewer minutes a day.

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Google's New Home Entertainment System Will Not Be a TV

Venture capitalists are pouring millions into the start up Rent My Vacation Home dot com, which already is turning a profit.Rent My Vacation Home is Now on 83 Vacation Rental Sites Synced on 1 Form.

New York, New York (PRWEB) February 10, 2012

There's no place like a second home. Or so the backers of vacation-rental start up Rent My Vacation Home dot com believe. Venture capitalists are so enamored of the 25 year old Washington D.C. Company, in fact, that they're plowing millions into Rent My Vacation Home, one of the biggest investments in an Internet outfit since the height of the dot-com bubble.

"This thing is a very well-kept secret," says Jim Kelleher, general partner with D.C. Venture Partners, a firm that invested millions in the investment round, announced Feb. 10, 2012. The rest of the financing came from Technology Ventures. Previous investors include Capital Ventures, which remains the largest investor of the company.

"It's time to unveil our 83 site network and watch it turn into the next HomeAway or Airbnb," says Brown, who led his firm's investments in new technology.

While many start ups are handing out pink slips and scrambling for money, Rent My Vacation Home's investors and executives say it had an easy time raising Money for a higher valuation. Rent My Vacation Home is one of those rare start ups with a high-growth business model that is producing an operating profit. Rent My Vacation Home dot com is on track to hit revenue of millions this year, says Chief Executive Jay Kalin. In February 1988, Kalin founded the company, who now is Rent My Vacation Home's chief officer. "This just happens to be a segment that everyone overlooked," says Kalin, president and CEO of Rent My Vacation Home dot com. "We see a terrific opportunity to build a great company." The Homeowners change 83 sites with every reservation or price change with one form.

Economy

While the economic slump is forcing many consumers to cut back on travel, Rent My Vacation Home dot com Jay Kalin "thinks its service could prove resistant to the recession". Renting a home often is cheaper than staying in a hotel. And for second-home owners who don't use their houses that much, renting can bring in extra money when times are tight. "As consumers seek value the category of vacation rentals is appealing," says Kalin. Thanks to this latest, head-turning investment round, Rent My Vacation Home is sure to attract a lot more attention—and rivals.

Analysts say competition is already growing from property managers, real estate companies, and a host of online players. Rent My Vacation Home dot com became the world's largest Internet vacation home network service through the acquisition of 82 online vacation-rental sites. Among the next-largest rental sites are Rent My Vacation Home, and Rent Disney World Vacation Homes dot com, and Rent My Ocean Home dot com. "There are some new entrants in the market that will pose a credible threat," Kalin says.

Other hurdles include the weakening travel market and the increasing need to earn the trust of consumers wary of giving stranger thousands of dollars so Rent My Vacation Home Guarantees every stay against fraud made on its reservation system.

About Rent My Vacation Home

“Search and List One and Done" Rent My Vacation Home operates 83 Franchised Stores and websites designed to help the 70,000 Home Owners listed & Millions of Home Vacationers .All aspects of online vacation rental management and adverting are performed . Homeowners are listed on a Network of 83 web sites, where 30 Million Vacationers visit every Year. Membership is Free Trial then $16.00 Mo. and vacationers Money is refunded if they do not rent their home. We work with local Hotels concerning overbooked rooms in all areas. Our agents work with your local Travel agencies and also advertise on all forms of local media .The advertisements not only include the Internet but TV also.

More info call 800-699-RMVH(7684)

# # #

Jay Kalin
Rent My Vacation Home
800-699-7684
Email Information

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Rent My Vacation Home is Now on 83 Vacation Rental Sites Synced on 1 Form

JUST A THOUGHT: A kiss is a rosy dot over the 'i' of loving. - Cyrano de Bergerac

MANILA, Philippines - YOU DON'T KNOW ME: At the media launch of ''My Beloved,'' Katrina Halili was quoted as saying she no longer knows Hayden Kho. She probably meant he has, in her mind's eye, faded long ago and far away as a ghost from a tragic past.

The actress also refused to answer any queries about the controversial doctor with whom she once shared a romantic, videotaped past. Katrina can't escape more inquiries about Hayden especially now that the controversial doctor has signed up with management company Stages to pursue an acting career.

For all you know, some naughty producer might be brewing a TV or movie project starring the two sex-video stars.

By the way, Katrina re-unites with former ''Marimar'' co-stars Dingdong Dantes and Marian Rivera in ''My Beloved.'' She shared that during a recent take, she slapped Marian full and hard per request of the latter. ''My Beloved'' tells an unconventional love story between an angel (Dingdong) and a mortal (Marian).

• • •

ISABELLE READY TO ACT: With a bit of trepidation, Isabelle Daza has accepted the female lead role in ''Biag ni Lam-ang,'' whose working and final title is ''The Lam-ang Experiment.''

Isabelle once said she'll stick to hosting and modeling, but now that the opportunity to act has presented itself, Gloria Diaz's daughter has willingly accepted. Isabelle co-hosts ''Manny Many Prizes'' and has recently replaced Iza Calzado as co-host on ''Eat Bulaga.''

On a recent trip to Iloilo for GMA Network's Dinagyang-inspired free show, she told us her mother, the 1969 Miss Universe, is her biggest fan and critic.

Gloria has also discouraged her from entering any beauty contest, which isn't her cup of tea, anyway. ''One beauty queen in the family is enough,'' Isabelle would cite her mother's admonition.

Gloria played an island woman named Isabel in her launching movie back in the early '70s, ''Ang Pinakamagandang Hayop sa Balat ng Lupa.'' Isabelle clears her name wasn't lifted from that landmark movie of her mother's and that in no way would she be caught in a movie riding a horse and wearing a wet, white T-shirt proclaiming her ''future'' to the world like her mother did.

• • •

STAR NEWS: Danita Paner lands her first lead role in a drama series, ''Isang Dakot na Luha,'' airing soon on TV5.

Rocco Nacino won the title role in the indie film, ''The Lam-ang Experiment,'' after auditioning for the part. ''Lam-ang'' is the next film project of Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos following the now-showing ''Pinta*kasi.''

Rocco's openness to accepting roles in indie films bolsters his image as a serious actor.

Prior to ''Lam-ang,'' he co-starred with Paulo Avelino in ''Sayaw ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa.'' Rocco is Kylie Padilla's leading man in the GMA afternoon teledrama, ''The Good Daughter.''

Who's following in the footsteps of Sam Pinto as the next endorser of San Mig Light?

For sure, San Mig Light will be launching a new TV campaign this year. What's uncertain is who will play the lead in the TVC.

The country's no. 1 low-calorie beer brand is looking closely at several prospects.

Its choice, according to studio whispers, is someone who exudes a sexy image like that of Sam's, the reigning sexiest female celebrity, according to FHM.

(nescuar@yahoo.com)

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'Biag Ni Lam-Ang' To Star Rocco; Katrina Speechless On Hayden

Traditional entertainment corporations and the U.S. government rejoiced as the Internet felt the hard-handed impact of MegaUpload’s take-down. But a study released by DeepField Networks, titled “File Sharing in the Post MegaUpload Era,” has offered compelling data proving that the effect on file sharing was only temporary, and that the celebration among copyright advocates was entirely premature.

MegaUpload formerly sat at the throne among file-sharing services and accounted for 30 percent to 40 percent of all file-sharing-related traffic at any given time. To give some idea of its massive scale, total Internet traffic dropped between 2 percent and 3 percent during the hour following the MegaUpload raid on January 18.

The drastic decline is attributed to DeepField’s revelation that that merely six file-sharing service providers cater to the majority (80 percent) of total file-sharing traffic.

Megavideo accounted for 34.1 percent of total file sharing traffic on Jan. 18 before the raid. The second-largest file-sharing service, Filesonic (which has shuttered its file sharing functionalities following the raid), once accounted for a hefty 19.1-percent market share.

But as DeepField’s data from Jan. 19 shows, traffic post-raid did not permanently hamper MegaUpload users. Rather, users redirected their loyalty to other existing services, thereby crowning Putlocker the new king.

The inconvenience as a user that comes out of Megavideo’s shut down, due in part to a heavy dependence on the American server provider Carpathia Hosting, is rather minor. Now most file-sharing services’ servers are relegated to more expensive hosting, and users may experience slightly slower download speeds, provided that they’re downloading across continents. The greater issue arose when the U.S. government decided to deny temporary access to MegaUpload users’ files, both legitimate and pirated.

With this in mind, it’s possible that “too big, too quickly,” contributed to MegaUpload’s downfall. MegaUpload’s subscription and advertising model supported a lavish lifestyle for CEO Kim Dotcom and other execs. Among the seized property from MegaUpload executives were a 2008 Rolls-Royce, 2010 Maserati, 1989 Lamborghini and 14 Mercedes-Benz vehicles, sporting vanity license plates that included, “CEO,” “HACKER,” “GOOD,” and “GUILTY.”

Despite the lucrative market for pirated content, and unfounded claims of piracy’s purported negative effects on the entertainment industry’s bottom line, copyright advocates have entirely underestimated the resiliency of users, and the gusto with which they bounced back.

For example, The Pirate Bay has moved toward magnet links, which allow users to access torrents without having to download a file. One Pirate Bay user scraped the service’s 1,643,194 torrents into a mere uncompressed 164MB. In the event that The Pirate Bay disappears off of the face of the Internet, you could conceivably stash away a complete index of its pirated offerings on a thumb drive.

At the end of the day, MegaUpload is just one large head on the mythical Hydra beast of file-sharing networks. Chop one head off and two more regenerate to replace the fresh stump. Has the MegaUpload takedown tackled piracy? It has. Was it effective? Not really. The hive mind that is the Internet will get what it wants. DeepField’s finding is just one example of why resisting is futile and unproductive, short of the Great Firewall. But even then, you can always bypass it using a virtual private network.

This article was originally posted on Digital Trends

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Study finds Internet piracy resilient despite MegaUpload takedown

BERLIN (AP) — Germany has delayed signing an international copyright treaty that has some Internet users worried about online censorship, joining Poland and the Czech Republic in hesitating on the issue.

The Foreign Ministry said Germany held off on signing the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, or ACTA, "to leave room for discussions" after the Justice Ministry voiced concerns. An official signature is needed before the deal can go to Parliament for approval.

ACTA aims to harmonize international standards on protecting the rights of those who produce music, movies, pharmaceuticals, fashion, and a range of other products that often fall victim to piracy and intellectual property theft.

Detractors fear it will also lead to blocking of content on the Internet and have planned demonstrations across Europe on Saturday.

ACTA shares some similarities with the hotly debated Stop Online Piracy Act in the U.S., which was recently shelved by lawmakers after a swell of opposition that included Wikipedia and Google blacking out or partially obscuring their websites for a day in protest.

The U.S., Japan, South Korea and others say ACTA is needed to fight the growing global trade in counterfeit and pirated material. But Poland and the Czech Republic suspended the treaty's ratification last week following protests and attacks on government websites.

The Justice Ministry argues there is no need for the legislation in Germany and that the European Parliament should debate and vote on ACTA before Berlin considers it. The European Parliament is set to debate the legislation early this summer.

"We do not want ... the possibility to block Internet access because of copyright violations," Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger said this week. "Internet providers are not auxiliary sheriffs."

Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, a member of the Free Democrats, the junior partner in the coalition government, has long opposed state or corporate interference with civil rights, sometimes taking positions that have irked Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives.

Germany's main industry lobby group, BDI, lamented the government's hesitation, saying it is damaging to "Germany as a country of innovation."

"The government must now take its responsibility and swiftly sign the agreement," BDI managing director Markus Kerber said.

But Internet activists welcomed the decision, while saying that planned protests against ACTA will still take place on Saturday. About 50 protests are planned in Germany alone.

Germany's opposition Greens maintain that the ACTA is a "repressive agreement" that "would curb the freedom of information on the Internet."

"We need a modern copyright that takes necessary legal protections into account and recognizes the reality of the digital world," party leader Renate Kuenast said.

Activists of online platform STOP ACTA say the deal "puts the regulation of freedom of speech in the hands of private companies because it forces third parties, such as internet providers to control online content."

___

Juergen Baetz can be reached on Twitter at http://twitter.com/jbaetz

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Germany stalls on Internet copyright law treaty