Hasta La Gadget!

Only recently Facebook announced Home, its latest software offering for Android. Its a custom skin that sits on top of the core Android OS, without making any changes to the underlying OS, Home presents its users a new way to interact with their friends as well as their smartphones. So many people have been asking whether Twitter will follow suit? Will it ever release an app that offers functionality similar to that of Home? Well it certainly is a possibility.

Michael Sippey, the vice president of product at Twitter, said that there were a lot of things that the company was looking at in Android as well as across all of their applications so as to make it easier for users to discover tweets. He says that he does want to see tweets on the lock screen and on the home screen. It remains to be seen whether Twitter will also indulge in creating a skin for Android devices like Facebook did, or whether it will partner up with a manufacturer to release a feature smartphone? Only time will tell.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: WhatsApp CEO Says They Have More Users Than Twitter, Outlook.com Android App Update Brings New UI And Features,

After Facebook and its 1 billion plus users, Twitter is perhaps the most widely used social network. Back in December Twitter announced that it had more than 200 million monthly users. Today at a conference WhatsApp CEO Jan Koum revealed that the popular cross platform messaging service has more users than Twitter. Confirming that they had more users than Twitter, Jan however did not reveal any specific figures which will obviously be over 200 million. He also revealed that WhatsApp handles some 12 billion outbound messages and 8 billion in bound messages every single day.

Recently we were hearing rumors that Google was willing to acquire the service for up to $1 billion, these rumors were quickly shot down by Neeraj Arora, the business development head at WhatsApp. Today Jan touched on this subject as well, saying that they wanted to build a sustainable and independent company, to build a business and that acquisition is not really a viable exit strategy for them. While Twitter and WhatsApp are in two entirely different niches, it is interesting to see just how quickly a cross platform messaging service has gained a surge in its user base.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Twitter ‘Home’ Like App Is A Possibility, Outlook.com Android App Update Brings New UI And Features,

The folks at Bloomberg chatted with two sources said to be involved in some private talks that Twitter is undergoing with Viacom and NBCUniversal about offering their content on the microblogging service. The sources, who won’t named, said that discussions with Viacom concern displaying TV show clips and ads, but the subject of its talks with NBCUniversal weren’t specified.

The talks with NBCUniversal were said to be about content partnership, and so we assume it is also about displaying video clips in conjunction with advertisements. Such partnerships would bolster what the microblogging service has to offer, and will encourage users to hang around the site longer, using it for more purposes and to connect with more modern content.

As Bloomberg points out, Twitter already has partnerships with ESPN, Turner Broadcasting, and the Weather Channel, and its goal is to populate its service with more news and entertainment video content, according to the sources. The revenue that is generated by the video content will be split by the social network and the video clip’s broadcasting company.

Financial breakdown of how that split will take place wasn’t provided, however. It may not take too long to get more details on the alleged pending partnerships, with the sources saying that at least one of the deals could go through by the middle of May. Twitter and Viacom turned down Bloomberg’s request for a comment on the rumor, while NBCUniversal failed to get back to them.

[via Bloomberg]

Twitter reportedly in talks with Viacom and NBC over content partnerships is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
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Now that Twitter has very tentatively launched Music integration, Bloomberg is reporting its next media target is TV. According to unnamed sources, Twitter is “close” to cutting deals to integrate video clips into the timeline, and sell advertising next to them. As we’ve seen with the new Cards it revealed earlier this month, bringing in more content about what users are discussing is key to its new strategy, and short TV clips fits into that idea perfectly. The report claims the first deal could be struck as soon as next month, with the possibility of other networks following afterward. Also playing into the strategy is its purchase of Bluefin Labs in February. Bluefin’s focus is tracking how much users talk about particular TV shows, and Twitter claimed at the time that it sought to “create innovative new ad products and consumer experiences in the exciting intersection of Twitter and TV.” Think that fits?

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, HD

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Source: Bloomberg

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