THERE ARE RUMORS THAT AMAZON WANTS TO BUY NETFLIX, MICROSOFT OFFICE IS GOING
VIRTUAL, AND NEW SOFTWARE WILL MAKE YOU SMILE MORE SINCERELY ON THE JOB. ITS
TUESDAY, JULY 14TH. I'M NATALI DEL CONTE AND IT'S TIME TO GET LOADED.
[*]
BLOOMBERG IS REPORTING THAT AMAZON MAY BE IN TALKS TO BUY NETFLIX. THIS NEWS
ALONE WAS GOOD FOR NETFLIX. THE STOCK SOARED TO THE HIGHEST PRICE IT HAS BEEN
SINCE JANUARY. BUT LETS THINK THIS THROUGH. ON THE ONE HAND, NETFLIX HAS A
HUGE USER BASE AND SOLID BUSINESS. AMAZON WOULD UNDOUBTEDLY WANT THAT. PLUS
NETFLIX HAS MADE A DENT IN CONSUMER'S ATTITUDES ABOUT STREAMING MOVIES AND
AMAZON WANS THAT. BUT AMAZON IS INVOLVED IN A TAX WAR. NETFLIX HAS
DISTRIBUTIONS CENTERS ALL OVER THE U.S. AND AMAZON WOULD HAVE TO PAY TAX IN
THOSE STATES, WHICH IS SOMETHING IT HAS BEEN TRYING TO AVOID. SO WOULD THE
TRADEOFF BE WORTH IT TO AMAZON? I DON'T KNOW. I GUESS WE WILL WAIT AND SEE BUT
I FOR ONE AM DOUBTFUL.
[*]
ON MONDAY WE SHOWED A PREVIEW OF MICROSOFT OFFICE 2010. MICROSOFT IS NOW
SAYING THAT THE SOFTWARE WILL INCLUDE A FREE ONLINE VERSION OF WORD,
POWERPOINT, EXCEL AND ONENOTE THAT WILL RIVAL GOOGLE DOCS. MICROSOFT UNVEILED
THIS FEATURE AT ITS 2009 WORLDWIDE PARTNER CONFERENCE ON MONDAY. THE COMPANY
IS GOING TO INVITE THOUSANDS OF BUSINESS PARTNERS TO TEST THE PROGRAM STARTING
NEXT YEAR. MICROSOFT HAS DABBLED IN ONLINE COLLABORATION SUITES WITH OFFICE
BUT NEVER REALLY COMMITTED TO THE WEB APPLICATION MODEL. IT WILL BE
INTERESTING TO SEE HOW THIS WORKS AND IF THEY CAN BRING ALL THE FEATURES THAT
USERS LOVE TO THE WEB BECAUSE WE MADE SOME SACRIFICES IN FEATURES WHEN WE
COMMIT TO GOOGLE DOCS. SO GET READY FOR AN ALL-OUT ONLINE OFFICE SUITE WAR.
[*]
A 15 YEAR OLD BOY HAS ROCKED THE WORLD OF THE WORKING WORLD WHEN HE ASSERTED
THAT TEENAGERS DON'T TWITTER, DON'T READ NEWSPAPERS, YET ARE CONSUMING MORE
MEDIA THAN EVER. MORGAN STANLEY ASKED THE BOY TO WRITE ABOUT USER BEHAVIOR
FROM HIS GENERATION AND THEY GET A SURPRISINGLY THOROUGH RUN DOWN. SO IF YOU
THINK TWITTER IS THE NEXT "IT" THING, YOU MIGHT NOT WANT TO RUSH THE JUDGEMENT
ON THAT. THE NEXT GENERATION DOESN'T SEEM TO CARE MUCH ABOUT IT. THEY ALSO
DON'T CARE TO GET THEIR NEWS FROM ANY TRADITIONAL OUTLETS SUCH AS NEWSPAPERS
OR RADIO AND THEY DON'T MIND FRAGMENTED CONTENT DELIVERY SUCH AS BUYING SOME
MUSIC ON ITUNES AND STREAMING OTHER TYPES OF MUSIC WHEN THEY FEEL LIKE IT. I
DON'T FIND ANY OF THIS TOO SURPRISING. ALTHOUGH MY QUESTION IS: WILL THIS
GENERATION EVER CARE ABOUT TWITTER OR ARE THOSE OF US IN THE MEDIA SPINNING
OUR WHEELS PUSHING IT? WHAT DO YOU THINK? WRITE IN AT LOADED@CNET.COM.
[*]
HBO AND CINEMAX WILL BE JOINING COMCAST'S ONDEMAND ONLINE SERVICE. THIS WILL
BRING BIG NAME ENTERTAINMENT TO COMCAST.NET AND FANCAST.COM, INCLUDING HBO
SERIES LIKE TRUE BLOOD AND ENTOURAGE, PLUS FULL-LENGTH MOVIES AND HBO FAMILY
PROGRAMS. IT WON'T BE FREE THOUGH. YOU HAVE TO ALREADY BE AN HBO OR CINEMAX
SUBSCRIBER. IF YOU ARE A SUBSCRIBER IT WON'T COST YOU EXTRA THOUGH. AS IT
SHOULDN'T.
[*]
THE KOOBFACE VIRUS IS BACK. IT HAS BEEN REARING ITS UGLY HEAD ON TWITTER. THIS
IS THE VIRUS THAT WAS NOTORIOUS FOR SPREADING OVER FACEBOOK. TWITTER HAS BEEN
SUSPENDING ACCOUNTS THAT SPREAD THE VIRUS. THESE ACCOUNTS HAVE SENT OUT TWEETS
WITH A LINK TO SOME "HOME VIDEOS." THE LINK GOES TO A FAKE YOUTUBE PAGE WHICH
ASKS USERS TO UPGRADE THEIR VIDEO PLAYER. THE UPGRADE IS AN EXECUTABLE FILE
THAT IS MALWARE. EVEN THOUGH TWITTER IS WORKING TO SUSPEND THESE ACCOUNTS, I
WAS STILL ABLE TO FIND QUITE A FEW OF THESE TWEETS. SO BE CAREFUL. AND OF
COURSE YOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER THAN TO DOWNLOAD FILES TO UPGRADE YOUR YOUTUBE
PAGE.
[*]
LG IS LAUNCHING AN APPSTORE BUT NOT HERE IN THE U.S. IT IS OFFICIALLY CALLED
THE LG APPLICATION STORE AND IT OPENS TODAY IN ASIA-PACIFIC. IT WILL HAVE 1400
APPLICATIONS AND 100 FREE PROGRAMS IN 15 LANGUAGES. THE NUMBER OF APPS IS
EXPECTED TO HIT 2000 BY THE END OF THE YEAR WHEN THE SERVICE OPENS IN EUROPE
AND SOUTH AMERICA. LG HASN'T TALKED OF ANY PLANS TO LAUNCH IN THE U.S. THOUGH.
[*]
MEANWHILE, BLACKBERRY IS LAUNCHING ITS OWN APPLICATION STORE IN 10 NEW
COUNTRIES. RESEARCH IN MOTION'S BLACKBERRY APP WORLD IS NOW IN ITALY, FRANCE,
SPAIN, GERMANY, IRELAND, AUSTRIA, LUXEMBURG, PORTUGAL, THE NETHERLANDS AND
BELGIUM.
[*]
THERE ARE ALSO RUMORS THAT BLACKBERRY IS WORKING ON A SOCIAL NETWORK OF ITS
OWN. IT WILL BE CALLED MYBLACKBERRY AND IT WILL LET YOU CREATE A PROFILE TO
SHARE WITH OTHER BLACKBERRY USERS. YOU CAN MARK, RECOMMEND, AND SHARE YOUR
FAVORITE BLACKBERRY APPLICATIONS. ACCORDING TO TECHCRUNCH, THE SITE COULD
LAUNCH AS EARLY AS TODAY.
[*]
IF YOU WORK IN THE SERVICE INDUSTRY, YOU MAY NOT BE ABLE TO FAKE A SMILE AT
WORK ANYMORE. A NEW PROGRAM IN JAPAN JUDGES THE SINCERITY OF SMILES FOR
EMPLOYEES OF THE KEIHIN ELECTRIC EXPRESS RAILWAY. IT MEASURES EYE MOVEMENTS,
LIP CURVES, AND WRINKLES TO DETERMINE IF THE SMILE QUALITY IS UP TO PAR. IF IT
DOESN'T, IT WILL TELL YOU TO PERK IT UP. AS FAR AS I CAN TELL, IT DOESN'T TELL
JOKES SO I GUESS IT ISN'T THAT EFFECTIVE IN FORCING A SMILE.
[*]
THOSE ARE ALL OF YOUR HEADLINES FOR TODAY. I WILL SEE YOU RIGHT HERE TOMORROW WITH
MORE. THANK YOU FOR WATCHING. I'M NATALI DEL CONTE WITH CNETTV AND YOU JUST BEEN
LOADED.
