Welcome

Welcome one and all to the latest edition of the Prompt Newsletter. So what’s going on in the world as we enter the long February of 2008? We report on Microsoft’s latest attempt to buy Yahoo, why things are looking up for the iPhone, and a PR blunder by QTrax. We also examine why children’s TV from the 1980s shouldn’t be ignored.

All this plus the usual media updates and a new column that should fill your need for useless but interesting statistics. We hope you enjoy.

Technology News

Microsoft Makes $44.6bn Bid for Yahoo
By Duncan Heaney

Could the rapidly growing Google Empire be under threat? The Guardian reports that Microsoft has launched a $44.6bn takeover bid for Yahoo. The company is offering $31 a share for Yahoo, a 62% premium on Thursday’s closing share price. Microsoft’s offer comes mere days after Yahoo announced the loss of 1,000 jobs.

The deal would certainly set Microsoft up as a serious competitor to Google, and with Yahoo experiencing dramatic drops in profits, many feel that the merger may happen. Yahoo was once the market leader for internet search, but Google’s rapid ascent means that they now only control 17.7% of the US market to Google’s 56.3%.

Of course, this isn’t the first time Microsoft has tried to buy Yahoo; Microsoft made an offer back in February last year. In Microsoft’s offer letter, Steve Ballmer explains that Microsoft was rejected then because Yahoo hoped that that the company could turn itself around. As the letter points out, that hasn’t really worked out for them.

iPhone owners unlock lower tariffs
By Dave Wilby

Most people agree that despite the current lack of 3G connectivity, Apple’s iPhone is pretty nifty gadget. But in the UK and beyond, being forced to pay extortionate tariffs to a mobile provider with no competition in the marketplace has led to many (perhaps more than a million in the US alone) iPhone owners buying handsets out of contract and unlocking them for their desired network - illegally.

Apple obviously hates this and has tried to prevent unlocking with sales limits and bootloaders , but according to News.com, the unlockers are now winning. Mike Abramsky of RBC Capital Markets told News.com that as many as 30 per cent of iPods sold last year may now be unlocked. Coincidentally perhaps, this week saw 02 announce six improved tariffs for iPhone customers offering substantially more inclusive minutes and texts.

Yes, we have a deal…uh, no we don’t.
By Reshma Raghavani

Last week, Qtrax announced that it was launching a peer to peer file sharing service with access to up to 30 million music tracks available from record labels such as Warner, EMI and Universal. The advertisement-supported service offered free and unlimited amount of downloads. This week, however, all the major music companies quoted by Qtrax denied signing a licensing agreement and stated that discussions were still ongoing.

This has been a costly and embarrassing PR exercise for Qtrax. The company spent £500,000 for a glitzy launch party to make the announcement, inviting stars like James Blunt and LL Cool J. Qtrax’s parent company Brilliant Technologies also saw its stock price on Pink Sheets drop from $0.092 per share at close last week to $0.0525 per share at close earlier this week.

The affair is embarrassing for Qtrax - this could very well affect its working relationship with the record companies, as well as the degree to which it can negotiate the best possible financial agreement.

Still, Qtrax was virtually unheard of until now and if its PR machine is on its toes, the company could use the publicity to their advantage instead of being known globally as an example of a PR blunder.

US Media News

By Tarryn Morley

US

David Margolick has been appointed contributing editor for Conde Nast Portfolio. He has most recently served as a contributing editor for Vanity Fair. Margolick previously wrote for The New York Times and is the author of Strange Fruit: The Biography of a Song.

Scientific American has appointed Ivan Oransky as web site managing editor. He was previously deputy editor at The Scientist. Oransky begins his new position on March 3. Scientific American is aimed at leaders in business and technology and focuses on the latest developments in biotechnology and information science.

Rory Thompson has resigned as online senior editor at Brandweek. He joined the publication in 2005. Thomson most recently worked as an assistant managing editor for Baseline.

The New York Times has announced the launch of a free text messaging service that will make content from the newspaper and The Times Magazine available on cell phones and any type of PDA or mobile device. By sending a text message with the appropriate keyword to 698698 (NYTNYT), users can receive the latest three articles from that section or the most recent column from their favourite columnist. The text message keywords can be found in the newspaper. Of course, standard carrier charges may apply.

UK Media News

By Tarryn Morley

UK

Mark Solomons has been appointed assistant news editor at the Financial Times. He was previously the FT’s European companies editor, and has also served as acting financial news editor and writer at the newspaper.

John Mullin has replaced Tristan Davies, who left two weeks ago, as editor of The Independent on Sunday. Mullin was the paper’s acting editor and previously served as deputy editor. He has also served as deputy editor at The Scotsman, executive editor of The Independent, and Ireland correspondent of The Guardian.

Sam Trendall has joined Incisive Media's CRN as a reporter. Trendall will cover the weekly voice and data section for CRN. He will also write general news stories and analysis for the print and online editions of CRN. This is Trendall’s first job in journalism.

River Publishing’s Dare is believed to be the UK’s first free women’s monthly magazine after it was announced that the publication will be distributed free in UK cities. Dare was launched last year through Superdrug’s 912 UK stores and originally cost 50p. The publisher will distribute it in Superdrug stores, outside stations, and in city centres in London, Manchester, Liverpool, and Newcastle.

Crunching Numbers

By Zachariah N. Hofer-Shall

200+3,000 = 5,200

Number of hours of the 2008 Summer Olympics NBC will show, online live stream and TV, respectively.

1,210

The total number of hours of TV of coverage in the 2004 games

1,133

The amount of coverage from the previous five Summer Games

Cable damage causes international disruption
By Duncan Heaney

Companies with operations in the Middle East and South Asia have been experiencing major disruption to internet services. According to the BBC, the cause of the problem has been identified as damage to undersea cables in the Mediterranean Sea.

It seems like nobody is quite certain exactly what has caused this damage, but there are reports that it may have been caused by a ship’s anchor near the port of Alexandria, Egypt. Countries in the region have had to contend with continued disruption and affected bandwidth since the incident happened on Wednesday.

The BBC reports that the damage to the cables has been adversely affecting British businesses outsourced to India. 60% of India’s bandwidth has been affected, and disruption has been reported in Qatar, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and Sri Lanka.

Distressingly for all those affected, rough seas and nasty weather are delaying the cable repair job, and it could be a week before normal service is resumed.

Why don’t you?
By Dave Wilby

“…just switch off your television set and go out and do something less boring instead? Sitting at home watching TV, turn it off, it’s no good for me!” It seems the Belfast gang and other child presenters on BBC’s ‘Why Don’t You?” in the 70s and 80s knew what they were talking about.

It might seem pretty obvious, but now New Scientist has confirmed that being a couch potato plugged into a television or computer screen most likely speeds up the ageing process, with a bit of help from smoking and obesity. A St Thomas Hospital study of chromosomal clocks and telomere lengths, suggests sedentary lifestyles can make us up to a decade older biologically. We don’t pretend to understand it, but a bit of web research will give you a scary insight into DNA mutations and all sorts!

Website of the Week

Music very

By Dave Wilby

If this month’s blocking of the Pandora genome music project has hit you hard and you’re looking for a new custom internet radio widget to fill the void, look no further than Musicovery. This natty online audio streaming service allows you to ‘define your musical universe’ and discover new music based on your mood.

Choose the free lo-fi version or pay $4USD a month for the hi-fi no-ad service and let Musicovery build a playlist based on your preference of genre (jazz, funk, soul, pop, world etc.), mood (dark, energetic, positive, calm), era and whether you want to hear new discoveries or established artists. Your first track will be queued along with a graphical representation of your ‘musical journey’ that looks part molecular diagram, part Jackson Pollock. The music library doesn’t feel as varied or granular as Pandora’s, but Musicovery is still great entertainment, and of course it still works.

We hope you find the Prompt Communications newsletter an interesting read. For any feedback on our newsletter, or to discuss how we can help you with your technology PR, marketing, social media/blogging initiatives, copywriting or surveys, please contact us using the details below. We are always delighted to hear from you.