Hasta La Gadget!

A few hours ago, rumors started swirling that Microsoft Surface ads would start appearing tonight. A tweet appeared from Paul Thurrott of Windows Supersite with alleged times for the ads, info garnered from unnamed sources. It seems the timing was spot-on, as the first commercial was posted on YouTube two hours ago, featuring a lot of dancing, and a lot of Surface tablets being thrown around.

This kick off comes shortly after Microsoft unveiled a new Windows 8 ad, the first of a marketing campaign that the company is spending a reported $1.5 to $1.8 billion on. According to Thurrott’s tweets, Microsoft is dropping $400 million on its Surface marketing campaign. Check out the video below to see the commercial for yourself.

The Microsoft Surface is scheduled for launch on October 26th, the same day that Windows 8 will be available. According to Microsoft executives, a Surface Pro device will be available approximately three months after the Surface is launched. Rumors abound that Microsoft will launch a Surface blog soon, while an official Twitter account has already been setup up at @Surface.

The Surface runs Windows 8, and measures in at 9.3mm thick, with one USB port, and a 10.6″ ClearType display. The cover is 3mm thick and pressure-sensitive, doubling as both “a fully functioning keyboard and trackpad.” Still no word on pricing or pre-orders, although one Microsoft store employee was quoted as saying that the price would “shock everybody.” Rumor has it the price will be around $199.

Microsoft Surface ad campaign kicks off with “The Surface Movement” commercial is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Amazon‘s Kindle presentation on Thursday featured a lot of big talking points, but one thing the company was understandably silent on was the “Special Offers” that will show on its new Kindle Fire HD line of tablets (along with the refresh of the original Kindle Fire). Subsidizing devices by showing ads isn’t anything new for the company, but once it became clear that these new Kindle Fires would be showing ads, people began wondering if Amazon would allow users to opt out of the special offers program by paying a fee, as it has done with its devices in the past. At first, Amazon said that an opt out option wouldn’t be available, and it’s pretty easy to imagine where things went next.

Amazon was met with anger from prospective buyers once it said that would be no opt out option, and now the company has changed course completely. According to CNET, Kindle Fire users will be able to opt out of the Special Offers program by paying a $15 fee. That fee is a bit lower than we’ve seen in the past, but don’t expect consumers to be happy with the fact that they have to pay to remove ads from a tablet – it’s one thing when ads are displayed on an eReader, but when ads are shown on a more expensive tablet, to many that’s an entirely different beast.

After paying the $15 fee, the ads from the lock screen and the home page will be removed. Some will likely be perturbed with having to pay a fee regardless of how much that fee actually is, while others are breathing a sigh of relief at this news. After all, since it’s understood that Amazon keeps its prices low by showing ads on its products, some never had a problem with paying an opt out fee in the first place. A number of potential Kindle Fire HD purchasers are probably just happy that they’ll have the option to opt out of Amazon’s special offers.

Still, there are some who are questioning why they need to see ads when the Kindle Fire HD’s biggest competitors – the Nexus 7 and the iPad – don’t force users to view ads anywhere. It’s true that these special offers could potentially save users some cash, but with one of the Kindle Fire HD models costing $499, it leaves a number of Kindle fans wondering why ads are necessary. Amazon says in its statement that “customers love our special offers and very few people choose to opt out,” so perhaps these offers do have value to some customers. What do you think of Amazon’s latest move – are ads on the Kindle Fire HD line unnecessary, or do you not mind the idea of having them shown?

Kindle Fire HD line will allow users to opt out of ‘Special Offers’ is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

If you’ve made it a habit of viewing YouTube videos on your mobile device in an effort to flout the site’s pre-roll ads, your days of bliss are quickly drawing to a close. Today, the site implemented TrueView in-stream ads for the mobile platform, and like you’ve become accustomed to on the desktop, you’ll begin to notice these commercials on your smartphone and tablet. Now, we get the need for content producers to make some coin, but the move certainly represents the end of an era. Fortunately, just like on the desktop, you’ll have the ability to skip these ads after five seconds. Maybe now, you can take pride in making an independent producer rich beyond imagination — or, at least helping them buy some lunch.

Filed under: Internet, Software

YouTube heralds arrival of in-stream ads, built-in annoyance for mobile devices originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Aug 2012 19:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Boingo tried its hand at free WiFi with Google earlier this summer, and now it’s acquired Cloud Nine Media to help it claim a larger slice of the sponsored internet access pie. Though Boingo’s 500,000 subscription-based access points vastly outnumber its acquisition’s 6,000 ad-sponsored locations, it hopes to use the newly purchased company’s hotspot sponsorship and ad-sales expertise to increase its free WiFi footprint. “This acquisition allows us to bring that capability in-house to better serve our growing need to deliver sponsored WiFi,” Boingo CEO David Hagan told AllThingsD. Naturally, the firm’s $9.95-a-month plan will live on, but it’s good to know that Boingo will enable more folks to surf the web free of charge from here on out.

[Image credit: Charleston’s TheDigitel, Flickr]

Filed under: Wireless, Networking

Boingo snaps up Cloud Nine Media to expand its ad-sponsored WiFi network originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Aug 2012 07:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve seen schemes from the likes of FreedomPop which offer “free” mobile internet access, but a company in the UK called Samba is taking the idea one step further. It’s partnering with Three UK to provide 517MB of free internet access on iPads if users agree to watch two and a half minutes of commercials. It also requires a app to be installed on the iPad to keep track of internet usage and serve up the ads.

Anyone using Samba can also build up credit by purchasing items that have been referred to them via the adverts, and there’s the more traditional route of simply buying credit too. The service isn’t just restricted to iPads, as users can buy a SIM card for £2.99 (~$4.67) to insert into a USB stick that will allow laptop owners to get in on the action as well, although a browser plug-in needs to be installed before the service will work. Samba will be offering its own dongle in the future.

Still, for that 500MB a month you’ve giving up some privacy. Samba say that cookies will be installed on your device that track your internet usage. That includes “traffic data, location data, weblogs, URLs, search terms and other communication data.” Certain material will also be restricted, like pornorgraphy and copyrighted/offensive material.

[via Gizmodo UK]

Samba launches free ad-supported 3G data is written by Ben Kersey & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.