Hasta La Gadget!

Beats’ acquisition of MOG ultimately carved the company into two pieces, if not quite evenly: it left both the blog content as well as a music-oriented ad network that’s popular, if without nearly as much cachet for the technology crowd as the streaming audio. Entertainment outlet Townsquare Media must have seen a bargain in the making given that it just swept in to buy MOG’s remaining parts. The deal, which AllThingsD understands is worth $10 million, will see the MOG name wiped for good as the ad network and sites slip into Townsquare’s collection. While anti-climactic, it still marks the formal end to a significant chapter in cloud music — MOG at one point was going toe-to-toe with the likes of Rdio and Rhapsody, and it now exists only as a memory.

Continue reading Townsquare Media buys what’s left of MOG

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Townsquare Media buys what’s left of MOG originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Aug 2012 14:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We often talk about patents here at SlashGear, but rarely do we get patent filings as strange (or as silly) as this one. GameNMotion has uncovered a Sony-filed patent for “converting television commercials into interactive networked video games,” and along with it comes a number of interesting applications. The patent seems to center around the PlayStation family of devices – PlayStation 3, PlayStation Move, PS Eye, and a microphone to be specific – more than it does the actual television, with these commercials making use of Sony’s gaming peripherals to become interactive mini-games.

The Abstract of the filing describes that a “media player coupled to the broadcast or streaming media source identifies the existence of the interactive segment and presents the user with an enhanced and interactive mini-game commercial that can be played with other ‘viewers’ in a common or disperse demographic.” It then goes onto mention that “multiple methods of delivery” are used, including one where the interactive commercial is overlaid on the frames of the television show, allowing the user to play the mini-game while the show is still displayed. Sony says in its filing that the mini-games would preferably last as long as standard commercials, but as you can see from some of the illustrations included with the patent, there will be ways for consumers to change that.

For instance, the patent provides an image of a person being instructed by a McDonald’s ad to shout the word “McDonald’s!” in order to skip the commercial. The person in the image does so, and his television show resumes. Another image has a person using the PS Move to throw a pickle in a burger as a means of speeding the commercial up. One of the illustrations shows a person using the PS Move controller to order pizza delivery to his house at “1200 Happy Street,” while finally, yet another image previews using the DualShock 3 controller to vote for a favorite character in a television show.

We can get behind the pizza idea, and we can get behind the gaming idea, but some of these examples walk that fine line between interesting and weird. This service presumably works with an Internet-connected TV or a TV that’s connected to a console with Internet access. Obviously, if this ever comes to fruition, we can probably expect the finished product (or “idea” in this case) to differ quite a bit from the description in the patent, although you never know – it might not be long before we’re shouting brand names at our televisions in order to get through commercials faster.

[via CVG]

New Sony patent shows off interactive commercials is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

With more and more Internet users streaming video on their smartphones and tablets, Google is constantly looking for ways to monetize all of that. One of the ways the company is doing that is by bringing TrueView in-steam ads to YouTube videos on mobile devices. YouTube product group manager Phil Farhi announced these new mobile ads on the Google Mobile Ads Blog, and told TrueView users what they can expect now that mobile devices have been tossed into the mix.

With TrueView, consumers have the ability to skip ads after five seconds, meaning that if the ad isn’t for something they’re interested in, then they aren’t forced to sit through it. Advertisers only pay for views when consumers opt to watch the ad, so they don’t have to worry about being charged for the people who only watch 5 seconds of the ad and then move on. This, of course, is geared toward making advertising more effective and cost-friendly for advertisers, which in turn encourages them to keep advertising with Google and YouTube.

In his post, Farhi states Google has “found that brand recall improves when ads run across TV, PC, phone and tablet,” and as such, has made it easier for advertisers to set up multi-screen ads. All TrueView accounts have been given mobile advertising functionality, and Farhi encourages account holders to begin using multi-screen campaigns. This means that advertisers can now focus a campaign across a wide variety of platforms, be it television, mobile devices, or computers, so expect to see these all-encompassing campaigns popping up soon.

This TrueView mobile launch is meant to expand on the YouTube mobile ad roll out that occurred last year. Advertisers who use TrueView now have a lot of additional options at their disposal, and you can bet that more than a few are happy that they can now push their ads to mobile platforms. Getting TrueView on mobile devices sounds like it will to prove to be an excellent move for Google, and the company says that more is on the way. Be sure to take a look at our story timeline below for more posts on Google!

Google brings TrueView in-stream video ads to mobile devices is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

As Nintendo pushes New Super Mario Bros 2 for the Nintendo 3DS and 3DS XL, they’re deciding that they need none other than actress Penelope Cruz to don the classic plumber outfit to make the game seem more attractive. The advertisement you’re about to see is lengthy, dry, and makes the title out to be just about as dumbed-down a video game can be, with jumping and coin-grabbing as the only two objectives the whole way through. In addition, the impossible nature of the storyline makes the whole spot fall undeniably flat.

If you’ve had your hand on the pulse of the Nintendo video game review universe, you know that New Super Mario Bros 2 is a massive chore in collecting coins. You collect so many coins by the end of the game that you’ll never, ever want to play a Mario game again. This advertisement informs us that these Cruz sisters have nothing better to do with their lives than compete against one another in a coin-collecting contest where the penalty for losing is heading to a market dressed as Mario or Luigi to pick up some mushrooms.

If you’re able to sit through the entire advertisement spot, you’ll get the bonus of seeing Penelope Cruz asking for mushrooms from a vendor on the street in what we must assume is supposed to be Italy. After over a minute of the two sisters playing the game with awesomely drab comments like “come on Mario, let’s go”, and “get the coins, get the coins, run, run run”, you get the reprieve of the Mario outfit.

Then it all gets ruined again by the camera dwelling on Penelope too long as she makes some uncomfortable hand gestures and mumbles. The whole thing feels like an unfinished product as Nintendo appears to struggle with a simple concept with well-known brand names. One star isn’t quite enough to entice when the execution on the video ad spot isn’t cut to completion – that’s for certain.

New Super Mario Bros 2 grabs Penelope Cruz for dress-up spot is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

uTorrent is one of the world’s most popular BitTorrent clients, with most users preferring it over other solutions due to its lightweight operation and low memory footprint. BitTorrent Inc has slowly been adding new features into the client, upsetting some users in the process, but the latest change will no doubt be controversial. TorrentFreak reports that adverts will soon be integrated into the client that will should generate significant amounts of additional revenue for the company.

BitTorrent Inc took to the uTorrent forums yesterday to make the quiet announcement, indicating that adverts will be added to the client in a coming update within the next few weeks. Specifically, the company will offer featured torrents at the top of the torrent list, allowing artists and studios to promote their content to a huge number of users: around 125 million, according to TorrentFreak

The adverts will have several tiers. The first will promote any new features or services from BitTorrent Inc. The second will come from “offer partners,” which might include security products or privacy services, while the third will advertise independent artists. Anyone using the updated version of uTorrent won’t be able to turn offers off, however, instead only being able to skip any unwanted ads.

BitTorrent Inc says that the change won’t affect users privacy, but offers will be targeting based on IP address locations. As always, the company is trying to find a balance between offering free software and generating a healthy income, although TorrentFreak has been informed by a source that current revenue falls between $15 and $20 million, with the company “backed by millions in venture capital.”

Upcoming uTorrent update will feature adverts is written by Ben Kersey & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.