Tuesday, May 31, 2011

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Vudu Taps Peter Gabriel's The Filter To Power Its Movie And TV Recommendations Top
You may know Vudu as the startup bringing high definition movie rentals and rent-to-own services to set-top boxes like PlayStation 3 and the Boxee Box. And most TVs and Blu-ray players. Vudu recently became the second streaming service to receive its own dedicated button on Vizio’s remote controls, following Netflix. You may also know Peter Gabriel , the British rocker who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a part of Genesis. Also the man responsible for Sledgehammer . What you may not know is that Gabriel is the front man and lead investor in a rapidly proliferating recommendation service called The Filter . Or that today The Filter is officially announcing that it has been tapped by Vudu to power its recommendation engine. The Filter is already providing its recommendation technology to an impressive list of clients, including Sony Music, Nokia, Comcast, Warner Brothers, NBC — and now it’s added Vudu’s huge library of HD movies to the list. As my colleague Mike Butcher wrote last year , The Filter's main business model involves becoming a white label personalization engine for mass audiences. As such, it needs partnerships like these to prove that its technology is able to scale into the billion-request level. Today’s announcement is further indication that the UK-based business is well on its way, considering it currently reaches more than 200 million unique users across multiple devices. Through the new partnership, The Filter will offer Vudu subscribers a personalized video-on-demand experience based on customers' previous viewing habits. The service is a little bit Amazon, a little bit Last.fm, and a little bit Netflix, serving its users with recommendations that are based on purchase data, consumption data, combining a wide array of statistical and rule-based analysis with artificial intelligence techniques that both learn and forget — all in an effort to provide smarter recommendations while protecting user privacy. In the case of Vudu, The Filter's recommendation engine will generate targeted and timely video recommendations from Vudu's selection of streaming movies and TV shows. And seeing as the competitors in this space, Netflix, Hulu, and YouTube included, collectively reach a massive audience and are trying to differentiate their services in an effort to provide the best streaming movie (and movie recommendation) option, The Filter is becoming a big part of the conversation. Vudu was acquired by Walmart last year ( for an estimated $100 million-plus ), as a play into the Internet-ready TV sales market, so The Filter may now count Walmart as a channel through which to reach new users. And Walmart is, well, a larger-than-average corporation, that may one day sell its products (beyond movies and TV shows) through a service like Vudu, using The Filter to recommend everything from movies to a new pair of pants. Or a new rifle. Look out! CrunchBase Information Vudu The Filter Information provided by CrunchBase
 
Amazon's Android Appstore Gets Another Huge Exclusive: Plants vs Zombies Top
If you were among the first wave of people to buy an iPad last spring, there’s a good chance you spent a lot of time playing one game in particular: Plants vs Zombies. PopCap’s smash hit was one of the first games on the iPad and it did extremely well, and it’s also seen a lot of success on the smaller iPhone/iPod Touch form factor. Now, some 16 months after its release, the game still ranks #27 on the App Store’s list of top paid apps. It’s not Angry Birds, but it’s easily one of iOS’s most popular games ever. And today, finally, Android fans are getting a chance to smack down some cartoonish undead. The application just launched on Amazon’s Android Appstore, and you can download it  right here  (it’s free today, and will be $2.99 starting tomorrow). Oh, and you won’t find it on the official Android Market for another two weeks. Unfortunately it isn’t currently optimized for tablets, but it should still work fine. The launch is a big deal for two reasons. First, Android gets another AAA game title, giving users one less reason to look longingly at their iOS counterparts. And it’s also another big marketing push for Amazon’s Appstore, which is a direct rival of Google’s official Android Market. Amazon’s Appstore launched in March, offering users a slightly different experience from Google’s official Market. Apps on Amazon’s store are all tested to ensure a baseline level of quality, and Amazon also provides recommendations and steep discounts on some apps. These are great features and it’s nice that Google has some competition when it comes to app distribution, but Amazon has its work cut out for it. The Amazon store takes advantage of the fact that Android is an open OS — through a process called sideloading, you can install any application you want without requiring Google’s approval. To access the Amazon store, users visit amazon.com/appstore from their phones, then download and install the store client from there. Unfortunately the process is a bit cumbersome — you have to dig through your Android settings and tap a checkbox that allows for installation from “Unknown sources”, complete with a warning that you are potentially exposing your phone to more malicious applications. Most users aren’t going to bother with this unless they have an incentive to. Which is why Amazon is working with developers to offer exclusives like Plants vs Zombies and Angry Birds Rio — and they’re also giving away one application free every day. This is a good tactic for building early traction, though in the longer term Amazon will need to work out partnerships so that its Appstore comes pre-installed on devices (it will obviously come pre-installed on whatever Android devices Amazon builds itself ). Because no matter how many neat games Amazon offers exclusively, that “Unknown sources” check box is a big hurdle. This isn’t the first grade-A title that made waves on the iPhone and was later ported to Android: Doodle Jump has been available since March 2010, Angry Birds arrived last fall, and Flight Control came out in April of this year. CrunchBase Information PopCap Games Amazon Information provided by CrunchBase
 
Zynga Channels Settlers Of Catan In New Social Combat Game Empires & Allies; Debuts In 12 Languages Top
Social gaming giant Zynga is launching its latest game tomorrow—Empires & Allies, the company’s first strategy combat game. Zynga is going big with this launch, debuting the game on Facebook in 12 languages (CityVille only launched in 5 languages). Zynga says this is the gaming company’s most social title to date. Empires & Allies, which is the company's first title to be launched out of Zynga’s Los Angeles studio, is set on a sprawling multi-island game board. The game itself is a cross between FarmVille and CityVille in terms of the layout and overall feel. There are two main parts to the game. First, players aim to build a island-nation by arming themselves against enemy forces and preparing for battle. Second, throughout the game, players build army units, recruit friends, and encounter allies and villains as fight their way across enemy-held territories on the quest to defeat the final villain. It’s sort of like Risk meets CityVille meets Settlers of Catan. Once you secure you island, you begin to strategically place your housing units, community buildings, military bases, and farms with reinforcements against invading enemies. As you build your empire of Islands, Scarlett, a female personal military advisor will help advise you within the game. Empires & Allies also introduces 30 other characters that help guide play and reveal plot secrets along the way. "The Raven" is tyrant who wanted his pet mascot to be an eagle. You’ll also fight "Captain Krunsch," an old school seaman who relishes taking out his enemies with his bare, arthritic hands. Of course, what makes Zynga’s game social is the ability to play and interact with your Facebook friends within the game. Empire & Allies allows you to build up your troops, recruit your friends and send them out to invade in-game villains. You can also visit your neighbors' empires to help them secure more energy, decorations and collectible items, and gain Honor Points along the way. And you can enlist your neighbors help in combat to quickly finish off enemies with special attacks. For the first time in a Zynga combat game, you can actually fight your friends and choose to invade your neighboring friends' empires to collect Infamy Points. Friends who are not invading you or a threat will have a red heart next to their icon and friends who are threats will have a gray heart. While this is one of the few combat games for Zynga (Mafia Wars is also considered a combat game); Empires & Allies is definitely not for the hardcore gamer. As I wrote above, it combines elements of combat and hardcore gaming with more mainstream, casual components. Amer Ajami, executive producer of Empires & Allies at Zynga, says the focus of the game of combining social gaming with elements of combat gaming. He says the game is deinitely not for the hardcore gaming crew, and is designed to appeal to a wide audience. "We're focused on bringing our players a new form of entertainmen and a strategy game is definitely a new playground for us. Play is in everyone's DNA, and this game lets you have fun and get creative by choosing your own destiny, building a nation and eventually, conquering the world, ” says Ajami. One aspect of the game that Ajami says is worth noting is that it is significantly more social than any of Zynga’s previous games. Many of the social gaming interactions, such as fighting against your friends, are new to Zynga’s games, says Ajami. Another question I had for Ajami was whether the game would appeal to both women and men. Ajami says that Zynga’s goal with Empires & Allies was to appeal to both genders. In fact, I’m told Empires & Allies is a hit with Zynga’s female employees. Empires & Allies will be available at in English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Indonesian, Turkish, Malay, Traditional Chinese, Korean and Norwegian tomorrow. CrunchBase Information Zynga Information provided by CrunchBase
 
Watch: The Daily Gets The Lowdown On What It's Like To Be A Startup At Disrupt NYC Top
There were a lot of stellar startups at TechCrunch Disrupt NYC last week, and unfortunately, there could only be one set of finalists and one winner. Of course, that doesn’t mean that those companies that didn’t make the final heat aren’t worthy of some love. The Daily followed the entrepreneurs behind three Disrupt NYC battlefield competitors, SpotOn , Spenz , and Madbrook Publishing through their unique experiences at Disrupt. They came by plane, train, and automobile, fought some nerves, endured some ups and downs, but in the end were exposed to a host of eyeballs and launched successfully. While judges were tough on some of the companies, the entrepreneurs gained some valuable feedback, and will no doubt use that advice to achieve future fame and glory. From butt art on the iPad to location discovery and spending tracking, these three companies proved that you don’t have to take home the Disrupt Cup just to be noticed. Check out TechCrunch’s coverage of the three startups live from Disrupt NYC below: How Do You Get Kids To Learn? Have Them Draw Butts On The iPad Spenz Wants To Help You Track Spending Habits And Stick To A Budget SpotOn Shows What You Should Do And Who You Should Do It With CrunchBase Information The Daily SpotOn Spenz Madbrook Publishing Information provided by CrunchBase
 
(Exclusive) YouTube's New Strategy: Create a Network Of Networks Top
YouTube is now showing approximately 3 billion videos a day. A growing proportion of those are shown with ads—more than 2 billion a week —and YouTube as a business is expected to pass $1 billion in revenue next year. But when it comes to making money, some videos do better than others. Professionally-produce videos attract the most ad dollars. These include videos from TV networks and major media companies, which is the low-hanging fruit, but also increasingly from Web-only video networks and studios such as Blip.tv , Maker Studios , and Revision3 . A big part of YouTube’s strategy is to encourage and promote these native Web networks. It bought one of the biggest ones, Next New Networks, and that team is now training other video producers how to replicate their results. For YouTube, it is all about scale, and networks of loosely aligned online video producers scale better than individual shows and viral-video phenoms. In fact, there is a brand new department inside YouTube called Networks. The purpose of the department is to encourage the formation of these outside networks which then use YouTube as their distribution channel. ( Update : YouTube denies the existence of this department, see below). YouTube can then help sell advertising targeted at these more professional networks of Web series and shows, and that scales better than supporting individual YouTube producers. YouTube will keep doing that, of course, but you can see the beginnings of an organization that will help to further professionalize the Web video industry. In this view, each network is like a channel, and YouTube is the new cable system or MSO (multiple system operator). The ABCs and Food Networks are welcome on YouTube, but Networks is very much an attempt to grow native channels on the Web. If YouTube gives them enough support and makes it profitable enough for the Web-only networks, they in turn will be able to pay more for native Web shows and series, and one day the best talent might even skip TV altogether. But first, baby steps. Update : YouTube denies there is any new strategy or organization focused on Networks. A spokesperson says: “There are many networks doing great things on the YouTube platform, but there is no group inside YouTube called Networks.” Whether or not it is a formal department, executives in the online video industry refer to it as “YouTube Networks” and perceive a shift in strategy. That may turn out to be wishful thinking, although there is at least one YouTube manager overseeing these relationships. CrunchBase Information YouTube Information provided by CrunchBase
 

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