the daily

As a guy blogging for a site owned by a television network (CBS Interactive is the parent company of CNET), count me as both excited and worried about Amazon's lineup of pilots for original comedy series.

So far, the forays into original programming by the likes of Netflix and Hulu and Amazon have been a mixed bag -- Netflix's "Lillyhammer"? Blech. Hulu's "Battleground"? More please.

But the six comedy pilots that will be posted to Amazon Instant Video for free viewing look to be upping the game significantly. Some of the names behind … Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- From Peter Ha: What it was like launching The Daily.

- The importance of album track order in the Digital Age.

- Psy estimated to receive only $61,000 from Korean digital sales revenue for "Gangnam Style."

- Pizza Hut gives back with pizza-scented perfume.

- Verizon patents DVR box with camera in it.

- PA High School's "Gangnam Style" parody dubbed "Worst Video on the Entire Internet."… Read more

News Corp. axes The Daily.

The Daily, which was an ambitious tablet-only news publication backed by News Corp., is shutting its doors December 15. Launched back in February 2011, The Daily was an interactive newspaper stylized for consumption on the iPad. Best of all, a year's subscription went for only $40 and offered a wide variety of sections. While there will be no more issues of The Daily, its brand will live on other channels within News Corp.

This week marks the 20th anniversary of the first text message. On December 3, 1992, SMS pioneer Matti Makkonen successfully sent … Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Justin wanted to like the modern take on The Rockettes at Friday's showing, didn't.

- Father of SMS reflects on 20th anniversary of first text.

- News Corp shuts down The Daily.

- These companies hate your guts.

- StickNFind Bluetooth stickers are the best idea you didn't think of.

- Apple trying to patent wireless charging.… Read more

The Daily, News Corp.'s embattled iPad news app, will officially be closing its doors on December 15.

The publishing house revealed the app's demise in a broad announcement today covering a wide range of changes at the company. The Daily as a standalone publication will be shuttered, but News Corp. said that its "brand will live on in other channels." Some staff, for example, will be sent to The New York Post.

"From its launch, The Daily was a bold experiment in digital publishing and an amazing vehicle for innovation," News Corp. chairman Rupert … Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- The view from inside 'The Daily.'

- Facebook has more than 83 million 'fake' users.

- A smartwatch that talks to your iPhone.

35 really terrible words recently added to the Oxford English Dictionary.… Read more

The Daily, News Corp.'s iPad-only news application, said today that it is laying off 50 employees, or nearly a third of its work force.

The app will also see a number of changes, losing its own sports reporting and trimming its opinion content. It will also switch to a portrait-only orientation. The changes were first reported by AllThingsD.

The cuts underscore the difficulties involved with launching a news service, even for a company with the heft of News Corp. The Daily launched in February 2011 with a lot of fanfare, and held the hope that consumers would pay … Read more

News Corp. has put The Daily, the iPad publication it introduced last year as "a digital savior" of newspapers, on probation, The New York Times reported.

The news and entertainment giant is trying to decide if the publication, the company's first daily publication created specifically for the tablet, could turn around losses that were estimated at roughly $30 million a year, according to unnamed sources.

This comes weeks after News Corp. founder, chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch confirmed that the media conglomerate would separate its publishing assets, including The Daily, from its fast-growing entertainment assets.

For the first time, the Daily Show Headlines app comes to Android, bringing content from Comedy Central's award-winning satirical news program to a swath of additional mobile users.

This means that Android users can now get mobile access to videos of Jon Stewart and "The Best F#@king News Team Ever," up to two weeks after original episodes air. In addition to the clip archive, the app offers a quote generator, guest news, and scheduled alerts to help keep you from missing an episode. Plus, it promises viewers exclusive content, which should be a treat for the … Read more