901am

New Media News Every Morning

Google scoops up aerial imagery company

By

Google went shopping Friday, this time purchasing itself a company which builds high resolution cameras for the collection of aerial imagery. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The company Google acquired, known as ImageAmerica, is perhaps best known for providing high resolution black and white imagery of New Orleans Hurricane Katrina. Google said its in the research and development phase right now for determining how it will integrate ImageAmerica’s imagery into Google Maps or Google Earth.

Google continues to look for ways to grow the popularity of its online mapping services. Last month it announced it was integrating Picasa into these services so you could create maps of where you took your photos.

Originally posted on July 23, 2007 @ 4:13 pm

Kirix Strata lets you data browse Web

By

strata.jpgKirix, a developer of interactive, dynamic data analysis technology, unveiled today a new Web browsing application known as Strata. This “data browser”, currently in beta, is designed to let users quickly get at specific data points on a Web page.

Strata, said Kirix, enables users to access web tables, RSS Feeds and CSV files directly from the Web without downloading. Once that data is available, the application lets one do calculations, sort, filter and develop queries and reports. Strata can also work with offline data, such as that created in Microsoft Access and Excel or tables located in database systems such as Oracle and MySQL Enterprise.

“We often see people go to a spreadsheet for their data analysis needs, but they lack in database-type functionality. The next choice would be a desktop database, but is often too complex for people to use,” said Ken Kaczmarek, CFO of Kirix. “Strata enables people to perform painless, ad hoc data analysis wherever their data is located — whether it is local, on a network, in a web-based reporting system or on the public web.”

Originally posted on July 20, 2007 @ 2:15 pm

£.com domain up for sale

By

pound-domain1.jpgFor sale: a domain name representing one of the most well known currencies in the world. If you’ve got the cash lying around to burn and desire a potentially lucrative domain to own then bust out your checkbooks and get ready to bid for £.com.

£.com, representing the British pound, is a symbol-based domain. The sale of this domain, part of a two domain deal (the other being poundsymbol.com), is being offered by Moneyedge, a small British Internet investments firm. £.com makes use of IDN (International Domain Name) technology and to access the domain visitors need to use a recent Web browser like Internet Explorer 7 or Firefox 2 and be in one of the 18 countries that have the £ symbol on their keyboards. IDN-enabled browsers are estimated now at around 45% market share world-wide.

Bids on the £.com two domain package are being taken through August 30. Moneyedge provided no estimation on how much it might fetch in the auction.

Originally posted on July 20, 2007 @ 1:59 pm

Harry Potter mania sets Amazon records

By

new-harry-potter.jpgAs the final hours to the release of the final Harry Potter book count down Amazon today released some last minute information related to how pre-sales and such have been going for the online retailer. In all counts things look great for the bookseller and all of the Muggles preparing to read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Amazon said that as of midnight, it has received more than 2.223 million pre-orders worldwide on its various Web sites, eclipsing the previous pre-order record of 1.5 million held by the sixth book in the series. On Amazon.com alone, the company received a record 1.41 million pre-orders making the book the company’s largest new product release ever. Amazon estimates its customers will save more than $50 million worldwide on the purchase of the book.

To add even more data to the mania for this book, Amazon said that in the largest single-product distribution in it’s history, more than 1.3 million copies of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will arrive on the doorsteps of readers across the country tomorrow. Amazon’s U.S. fulfillment centers processed approximately 18 tons of orders per hour and are shipping to more than 43,000 zip codes across the country. Also, on its busiest pre-order day, Amazon.com took more than 1.75 pre-orders per second.

Originally posted on July 20, 2007 @ 1:11 pm

Online bead retailer launches beading blogs

By

Browsing news wires for stories sometimes turns up interesting niche blogs worthy of at least a passing mention. Such is the case with the recently launched Bead Blogs, a series of blogs dedicated to the beading community.

These Bead Blogs are done by folks associated with The Beadin’ Post, an online seller of beading supplies. These beading blogs focus on topics ranging from vintage jewelry to how to properly organize beads. They also focus on the obsession with beading in general and the latest finds of the bead seller.

“Advertising in the trade magazines is quite expensive,” said Beadin’ Post co-owner Jan Parker. “There are so many magazine ads it is challenging to get noticed. We needed to find a new way to reach our existing and potential customers.”

Originally posted on July 19, 2007 @ 1:34 pm