Internet search engines pride themselves as being neutral providers of information. But as competition mounts to own the connection between fans and online content, tech behemoths like Microsoft and Google increasingly are turning to their search engines to help drive their entertainment content strategies.
In June, Microsoft launched a new entertainment vertical to its Bing search engine, which among other things aggregates full-track streaming from Zune, details on upcoming tours and buy links within the results for any artist, album or song search.
Google put together a similar package last year and is now building a music download service of its own that would be tied to its search engine and Android mobile operating system.
Given the high volume of entertainment-related queries that the search engines handle, it was only a matter of time before they took bold steps into the space. According to Microsoft, 10 percent of all Internet search queries are entertainment-related, with music lyrics alone accounting for 70 percent of those searches.
With the Bing upgrades, Microsoft is trying to position itself as a better entertainment discovery tool than Google. While both Google and Bing have links to stream full songs found in search results, Bing has the more complete package with additional details on tour dates, lyrics and buy links.
However, all that may change once Google gets its music act together. Sources confirm that later this year Google will launch a music download service that’s tied to its search engine. Currently, music searches on Google link to full-song streams provided by MySpace Music, as well as Twitter feeds and other information, which it launched late last year.
Exactly what Google has planned is unclear, but a hint was given during a developers conference for the company’s Android mobile platform in May. At the event, Google announced the acquisition of Simplify Media, a content-synching technology that the company demonstrated can be used to automatically synch and stream music purchased online to any Android phone containing the technology.
Whether this is an interim step toward an eventual streaming subscription service is unclear, and Billboard hasn’t confirmed any additional details on this point.
Potentially interfering with both plans is an increasingly aggressive effort by the recording industry to have search engines remove links to infringing material. BPI, the trade group representing U.K. record labels, raised the stakes in June by issuing a takedown notice to Google, demanding it remove links to 17 songs from third-party websites it deems infringing, such as RapidShare and MegaUpload. Google hasn’t yet responded, but its next steps will be telling.
Should Google comply, it would set a precedent that will almost certainly result in a flood of additional takedown notices from every music label and publisher eager to eliminate pirate links on the world’s most popular search engine. If it refuses, there could be another court fight coming as big if not bigger than the $1 billion lawsuit Viacom brought against YouTube — which itself is heading to appeal after Google recently won a summary judgment to dismiss the case.
As for Bing, Microsoft senior VP of online services Yusuf Mehdi assures the music industry that it will comply with any takedown requests, but has no plans to alter the search algorithm that determines search results.
“We’re pretty true to the algorithmic ranking in the Web results,” Mehdi says. “We’re obviously not going to surface that kind of stuff in the Bing box, but the algorithm that determines relevancy of search results we’ll stick with.”
While Bing’s moves are interesting, it’s Google that has the market-moving leverage. According to the most recent data from information services firm Experian Hitwise, Google’s search engine in May led the pack with 72 percent U.S. market share, with Yahoo second (14.4 percent) and Bing third (9.2 percent).
But when it comes to music, all of them stand in the shadow of Apple, which still commands 70 percent of digital music download sales in the United States, according to NPD Group. While Apple has no presence in online search (yet), both Microsoft and Google are competing with Apple on the rapidly growing mobile platform — Google with Android and Microsoft with the new Windows Series 7.
Successfully tying together a cloud-based music service with an online search and discovery system and a path to mobile phones — not to mention advertising around it all — is the digital content battlefield of the immediate future.
Source:Flare
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Twilight GPRS package aims at giving Prepaid customers the facility to use *unlimited GPRS from 1:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. The offering is being positioned at a competitive price to facilitate our prepaid customers for GPRS usage and allows a single day validity period to the customer.
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The service makes use of allotting the user a GPRS Timeslot (1:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.) which the customer procures and expends as required. Twilight package gives the customer access to *unlimited data over GPRS which has a validity of 1 day per subscription.
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Quetta: Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) organized telecom Consumer Forum with a theme “Together for Consumer Rights” on 8 july. State Minister for Industries and Production, Dr. Ayatullah Durrani was the chief guest on this occasion while Chairman PTA, Dr. Mohammed Yaseen presided over the Forum. Consumer Representative, Mrs. Suraiya Allahdin, representatives from IT & telecom industry, telecom consumer groups, renowned social workers and academia also attended the event.
On this occasion, State Minister for Industries and Production, Dr. Ayat Ullah Durrani said that this forum provides us an excellent opportunity to review the telecom scenario in Balochistan for achieving desired targets in terms of service expansion in the area. He said that the telecom sector of country has witnessed a spectacular growth in the recent past. The province of Balochistan has the potential to gain further from this growth for its people as well as for the development of telecom infrastructure in the province, he added.
He said that Balochistan is gaining a lot of ground through implementation of last mile solution and increased network coverage. Major share in this increase of network coverage has been that of the mobile sector while Wireless Local Loop (WLL) services have also fared well recently in the province, he added. The Minister said that it would also have a positive spill over effect on the overall economy of the province creating increased economic activity in Balochistan.
Dr. Ayat Ullah further said that number of consumer- oriented steps have been taken by the operators under the guidance of PTA which not only facilitate the telecom consumers but also ensure their protection from poor quality of services. He said that the verification of user antecedents and blocking of unverified SIMs, successful introduction of new SIM Activation System and smooth implementation of “SIM information System-668” are some of the significant steps taken by PTA on SIM issue which would go a long way towards safe and legal use of mobile services. He also appreciated the launch of comprehensive mechanism for complaint lodging and redressal of consumer grievances by PTA and the telecom operators. He said that this initiative would ensure the availability of cost effective, accessible, prompt and accountable complaint lodging mechanism for the telecom consumers.
While addressing the forum, Chairman PTA, Dr. Mohammed Yaseen said that the statistics of recent telecom growth in Balochistan are evident of the satisfaction level of telecom consumers of this area with the quality of telecom services provided to them. He said that in year 2002 cellular teledensity in Balochistan was just 0.17% which has grew manifold after the completion of numerous development projects making this figure much healthier in March-2010 which is 34.3%. He said that during the last two years, the overall teledensity of the province has also grown from 29.3% in 2008 to 36.86% in May-2010. Total number mobile phone subscribers in Balochistan in last 8 years, has increased from 12,539 in 2002 to 2.8 Million in May-2010 showing an immense growth rate which in 2003 had reached the highest level of 600.8%. Apart from the cellular sector, he said, the Wireless Local Loop (WLL) is also showing positive growth patters in this area. Total WLL subscribers in Balochistan as of March-2010 are 109,079 while total number of Local Loop (LL) subscribers is 98,511 (March-2010).
Chairman PTA said that fiber optic is being laid from Balochistan to connect with Iran and Afghanistan while it has also been laid across Balochistan to provide telecom access to the local population. He said that PTA has deployed around 62 Rabta Ghars in Balochistan to provide basic telecommunication services especially to the rural population of the province.
Dr. Yaseen said that PTA is cognizant of telecom consumers’ needs and is taking every step to facilitate them in resolving their issues. In this regard, he said, we have taken number of consumer-oriented initiatives like introduction of Mobile Number Portability (MNP), system to block stolen mobiles through IMEI number, new consumer friendly SIM Activation System for the convenience and safety of mobile subscribers, establishment of Consumer Protection Department, Promulgation of “Telecom Consumer Protection Regulations, 2009” and “Protection from Spam, Unsolicited, Fraudulent and Obnoxious Communication Regulations, 2009” are some the important achievements of PTA. He said that organizing such consumer forums is yet another serious effort by PTA to address the consumer issues.
CEO Universal Service Fund (USF), Parvez Iftikhar said that the fund has started projects worth Rs.5.87billion in Balochistan which would help in provisioning of telecom services to far flung areas of Balochistan. This would bring economic betterment in the area, he added.
The consumer representative, Mrs. Suraiya Allahdin appreciated the role of PTA in focusing on consumer issues. She discussed spread of mobile phone across the country. She said that usage of internet must be checked and objectionable sites should be banned. She said that complaints lodging mechanism especially of PTCL may be improved. Presentations were also made by PTCL, mobile and WLL operators on this occasion.
SHANGHAI (July 10 2010): Google Inc has been given the green light by Beijing to continue operating its Chinese search page, averting a potential shutdown of its flagship search site in the worrld's biggest Internet market Google said last week that it would stop automatically rerouting users to its uncensored Hong Kong-based search page, explaining that Beijing had indicated it would not renew its Internet Content Provider (ICP) licence if it continued to do so.
That had prompted speculation that China might use the opportunity to shut down Google's China search page, which would have been a blow to its other business in the country. "China has renewed our licence," a Google spokeswoman told Reuters on Friday. "We are very pleased that the government has renewed our ICP licence and we look forward to continuing to provide web search and local products to our users in China."
China Internet analysts and industry watchers welcomed the move as a positive sign but cautioned against heady optimism. "It is good news for the Chinese consumer, good news for the Chinese Internet industry that Google is still available in the country in some shape or form," said Ted Dean, president of Beijing-based business advisory firm BDA. "But many of the issues around why Google shut down its Chinese search page in the first place are still there," Dean said.
Google stunned markets and consumers in January when it warned it might quit the country, saying it did not want to comply any longer with the censorship requirements needed to operate in China. In March, Google began to automatically redirect visitors to its China website to a search site in Hong Kong that provided uncensored results. Now visitors to the Google.cn page have to click once in order to visit the Hong Kong page.
Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt had told an industry gathering on Thursday in the United States that he was confident the company would secure the licence. Google's current search business in China accounts for a tiny slice of the firm's $24 billion in annual revenue. Analysts estimate revenue in China to range from $300 million to roughly $600 million, but the long-term growth prospects are key. Google has around 30 percent market share of China's 7 billion yuan ($1 billion) search market.