partnerships

Instagram clicks with Hipstamatic

The popular photo apps Hipstamatic and Instagram seem to have drawn a little closer.

Instagram has 17 filters to choose from for touching-up and enhancing photos before sharing, while Hipstamatic's free features include four lenses, three types of flash, and three kinds of film. The point here is this: there's a lot more people can do with photos using Hipstamatic, but there's been no one-step way to share them.

Until now, judging by a Hipstamatic tweet today:

Sharing is about to get easier! Tag Facebook friends & upload to multiple networks, incl. @Instagram http://bit.ly/yQunPt (@… Read more

YouTube, Disney cut video deal, report says

Google and Disney are partnering on an effort to bring more attention to their respective brands.

Disney and Google's YouTube are expected to announce a partnership tomorrow in which the two will spend $10 million to $15 million on original series, according to a report in The New York Times. Disney will produce the shorts, which will be distributed on a co-branded channel on Disney.com and YouTube, the newspaper reported. It will also reportedly feature amateur video uploaded to YouTube.

YouTube representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

News of the partnership comes as competition … Read more

Can the Facebook economy help Americans find jobs?

Facebook and the U.S. Department of Labor are teaming up to help unemployed Americans find work via social networks.

The new effort, announced Thursday in Washington, D.C and live streamed on Facebook, is called the "Social Jobs Partnership." A video of the event can be found here. Also joining the effort is a coalition of employment service non-profits: the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), DirectEmployers Association (DE), and the National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA).

As part of the initiative, there's a new Facebook page aimed at job seekers and employers. Eventually, … Read more

Microsoft signs search pact with China's Baidu

Google has exited the Chinese market for online search, but two of its biggest rivals, Microsoft and Baidu, have signed a pact to cooperate in the populous country.

Specifically, Microsoft will supply search results for English-language queries on the Chinese search engine, according to representatives for both companies who spoke to The New York Times and Dow Jones today.

"More and more people here are searching for English terms...but Baidu hasn't done a good job. So here's a way for us to do it," a Baidu representative told the Times.

Baidu is the top search … Read more

RIM, Microsoft ally in smartphone wars

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer took the stage Tuesday morning at Research In Motion's Blackberry World conference in Orlando, Fla. to announce a new partnership between the computing giant and RIM, several reports indicate.

Starting today, Microsoft's Bing search and maps applications will be integrated into BlackBerry phones at the operating system level, said Gartner analyst Michael Gartenberg via his Twitter feed from the event. The search and mapping technology will include location-based services. Microsoft demonstrated the new Bing application running on a BlackBerry Torch 9800.

NPD Group analyst Ross Rubin, who is also attending the show, tweeted that … Read more

Startup America gets Microsoft, Google, HP support

Microsoft, Google, Hewlett-Packard, and a host of other companies are providing funds and resources to the Startup America Partnership to further the group's goal of fostering the entrepreneurial spirit.

More than 15 companies will kick in a total of $400 million in money, services, training, and other benefits that will go directly to entrepreneurs trying to get their ideas and businesses off the ground.

Launched this past January with the backing of the White House and contributions from IBM and Intel, the Startup America Partnership tries to network entrepreneurs, investors, non-profit groups, and corporations in a bid to create … Read more

Bing taps Kayak for its travel search

Microsoft announced today that it has entered into a partnership with travel search tool Kayak to bring flight search results to Bing users in the U.S.

Now, when users do a flight search, it will be grabbing results from what Microsoft says is a larger set of flights than what was previously available. That new data will begin appearing in results in "the coming weeks," said Krista Pappas, Bing's global travel industry director , in a blog post today announcing the partnership.

"For Bing, this means we can focus our development resources on delivering even more … Read more

Facebook's next big media move: Comments

Facebook is planning to launch a third-party commenting system in a matter of weeks, according to multiple sources familiar with the new product. This new technology could see Facebook as the engine behind the comments system on many high-profile blogs and other digital publications very soon.

The company is actively seeking major media companies and blogs to partner with it for its launch, part of a bigger media industry move spearheaded in part by the recent hires of Nick Grudin and Andy Mitchell, media business development executives with respective track records at Newsweek and The Daily Beast.

Representatives from Facebook … Read more

CES: Bang & Olufsen signs chip cooperation deal with Intel

Bang & Olufsen, a company known for its distinctive audio designs, has signed a chip technology cooperation agreement with Intel.

The Danish company has expanded into many technical markets beyond audio, including video, home media servers, telephones, and home automation that brings electronic controls to electronics, curtains, and thermostats.

"This strategic cooperation with Intel provides Bang & Olufsen with access to the latest silicon process technologies. This will enable Bang & Olufsen to stay at the technological forefront in the future and increase the efficiency of Bang & Olufsen's product development," said Bang & Olufsen Chief Executive … Read more