Instapaper - Amazon on Facebook - Google TV - Twitter CEO steps down - Skype hires new CEO
Ramakrishnan Laxman
Today, Instapaper rolled out
an early beta test of a new Subscriptions service. What is it? It’s a way to pay a subscription fee of $1 a month to the service. So what do you get for the $1 a month? Right now, not much. Subscribers are given the option to hide Instapaper’s advertisements. Amazon Opens Pampers Webstore In Facebook
Selling products through social networks isn't entirely new, but when the most powerful online ecommerce store -- Amazon -- launched a Facebook product page last week to sell diapers for Procter & Gamble without making the consumer leave the site, analysts stood up and took notice.
Facebook could become a major source of referral traffic for ecommerce, just as the site became a dominant source of traffic referral for online content, according to Lazard Capital Markets Analyst Colin Sebastian. "We view the integration of Amazon webstores on Facebook as adding a meaningful new source of leads at essentially no cost; however, over time we would expect Facebook to levy a referral fee similar to the fee now charged on the sale of virtual items," he wrote in a research note published Monday.
Google Making Eyes At The Living Room With TV SiteMoving one step closer to America's living room, Google on Monday debuted a microsite -- at www.Google.com/tv -- for its forthcoming TV service.
Google unveiled plans for GoogleTV in May, describing it as an on-screen search box that will allow viewers to look through live programs, DVR recordings and the Web. Partners range from Time Warner properties, including CNN, TBS, HBO, and Cartoon Network, to CNBC, The New York Times, and Vevo. Presently, the only options for getting Google TV include Sony Internet TV and the Logitech Revue box, but the search giant is busy at work on additional partnerships.
Twitter founder steps down as CEO
The co-founder of social networking site Twitter is standing down as its chief executive.Evan Williams, who has headed the company since 2008, is being replaced to allow him to focus on ways of making Twitter more profitable. Announcing the decision on Twitter's blog, Mr Williams said Twitter needed to "meet its potential as a profitable company". He will be replaced by the current chief operating officer, Dick Costolo. Twitter has grown dramatically in recent years, with user numbers now topping 160 million, compared with three million two years ago.
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Skype Hires A New CEO From Cisco
Skype, which filed for an IPO in August, is now bringing in an outsider as CEO. The company has hired Tony Bates, an SVP at Cisco