Welcome to Impromptu, Prompt's weekly newsletter.

Coming off the excitement of the Super Bowl (which Rob swears should be a national holiday), we're taking a look at some big acquisitions and announcements. Dave confirms poorly held secret about the BBC iPlayer coming to devices near you soon, while Rob celebrates tablets, which are finally beginning to take shape. Meanwhile I discuss how AOL has snapped up one of the biggest news sites in the world.

We have our media updates as well as website of the week and tech totals, which focus on the aforementioned Super Bowl.

Thank you for taking the time to read and if you have any suggestions on a topic we should cover feel free to get in touch.

Cheers,
Hazel Butters
CEO
Prompt Communications
Twitter: @PromptLondon and @PromptBoston

BBC iPlayer officially hits iPads and Androids

By Dave Wilby

Yesterday the BBC officially launched its iPlayer service for both the Apple iPad and the Android platform. Until the new apps reached the stores yesterday morning, tablet owners had resorted to working around the incompatibility by downloading third-party browsers before accessing a mobile version of the iPlayer website.

The launch news was leaked earlier in the week by the BBC's interactive operations manager Geoff Marshall, who posted this on his Twitter feed: "iPlayer App for iPad is being released this Thursday - 10th Feb. 3G connection is browse only. Browse+Playback requires Wi-Fi."

The new tablet-optimised iPlayer App is currently UK-only, but indications from December's Digital TV Summit were that subscription versions would eventually be launched for US audiences craving a slice of Auntie. For the time being though, owners of iPods and iPhones, even in the UK, will have to continue to use iPlayer Mobile through Safari until apps have been tinkered specifically for the smaller screen.

The tablet wars are heating up

By Rob Ramos

This week HP threw its hat into the tablet circle by announcing the TouchPad. This new tablet is comparable to the world renowned iPad in both size and specs, while besting the tablet king with more than three times the onboard RAM and a front facing camera. While Apple won't be at the bottom of the pile in terms of specs much longer — it is strongly rumored to be preparing its second-generation iPad for a June release — HP's new addition does bring a new sense of excitement to the tablet wars. Notably, there's now more than one company involved.

I lamented the fact that there aren't any real competitors to the iPad sometime ago, even though everyone could've (or should've) seen the writing on the wall that tablets, not netbooks were the future. Everyone sat around while Apple brought out the most sought after tech toy that wasn't an electric car. But, finally, things are starting to heat up and consumers who crave easy, smartphone-like access coupled with the advanced guts usually only found in quality laptops can now rejoice.

Also due to hit shelves soon are tablets from Motorola, LG and RIM BlackBerry. These are top of the line models too. There will be plenty of economically conscious versions available as well — with of course the added trade-off that they won't boast as many high-end feature — which will draw in those with pockets that aren't as deep, but still want a decent mobile experience.

Needless to say I'm excited by the way this new generation of technology is shaping up. I can have ultra mobility without a silly miniature keyboard attached? Yes please.

AOL buys the Huffington Post

By Hazel Butters

This week, AOL announced that it is buying the Huffington Post for $315 million.

The Huffington Post was founded by Arianna Huffington in 2005 as a liberal alternative to right wing media outlets. The online newspaper is now among the internet's top ten sites for global news, and has 25 million users. AOL will no doubt be hoping that this user base will lead to a boost in advertising revenue, but many suspect that the company sees greater value in Arianna Huffington herself. According to analyst Rob Enderle, the $315 million is "really just the hiring fee to get Arianna."

They may be right. Huffington looks set to take charge of AOL's growing media empire, which includes technology sites Engadget and Tech-Crunch, news site Patch.com and online mapping service Map-quest.

AOL seems pretty cheerful about the deal, but not everyone is as convinced. As the Guardian's Emily Bell points out, much of the Huffington Post's success lies in its independence and position outside the establishment, and AOL is about as establishment as you can get.

Even more problematic, a lot of the site's content is produced for free by surprisingly high-profile people. The value for many of these lies in the site's independence and explicit liberal agenda. It's difficult to imagine all of them being happy or willing to produce free content for AOL.

Still, Arianna Huffington has proven herself to be a smart and savvy businesswoman. It's going to be interesting to see where she takes AOL from here.

For more thoughts on this story, check out Prompt's blog.

Welcome
Technology News BBC iPlayer officially hits iPads and Androids The tablet wars are heating up AOL buys the Huffington Post Tech Totals
US Media Updates
UK Media Updates
WOTW
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Last Sunday the Green Bay Packers fans had good reason to celebrate as their favorite team took the top prize in Super Bowl XLV. In honor of the 45th Super Bowl, we take a look back at the highlights of this game's storied history.

• 6 — percentage of workers who reportedly call in sick the Monday after the game
• 8 million — pounds of guacamole consumed on Super Bowl Sunday
• 55 — most points scored by a winning team in a Super Bowl (the San Francisco 49ers bested the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXIV)
• 16 — least points scored by a winning team (three teams accomplished this: the New York Jets in Super Bowl III, the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl IIIV and the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl IIIIX)
• January 15, 1967 — date of the first Super Bowl game
• 10 — highest number of times a city has has hosted the Super Bowl (Miami)
• 1 billion — average worldwide audience of the Super Bowl
• $25,000 — value of the Vincent Lombardi Trophy, the Superbowl crown, created by Tiffany and Co.
• 700,000 — footballs produced annually for official NFL use (72 of them are used for the Super Bowl)

After departing MSNBC in unceremonious fashion, Keith Olbermann will be joining former Vice-President Al Gore's Current TV. The channel, built around content delivered by its viewers, hasn't achieved the viewing audiences it expected when launched in 2005. CEO Mark Rosenthal is quoted as saying the addition of Olbermann will appeal to people who watched Olbermann's former show 'Countdown' and 'Deadliest Catch'.

Recognizing that a move to digital is its best way of staying afloat and relevant, Time Inc. has reached a deal to digitally distribute its publications through HP's newest tablet. The HP TouchPad will carry issues of Sports Illustrated, Time, Fortune and others at the time of its launch later this year, and will also introduce a native digital subscription service, something lacking in other tablets.

The biggest television event in the US lived up to its billing as the Super Bowl was watched by 111 million people. It was the highest rated show ever, pushing last year's game from the number one spot. With that many eyes glued to the television, advertisers knew it was their time to shine, as well as pay up; 30 second spots cost around $2.25 million.

Despite being infused with $200 million last December, Twitter is still operating at a $45 million loss, and is now rumoured to be in discussions for a potential buyout with Facebook and Google. The Guardian reports that even though talks are preliminary and have not progressed far, each company values the micro-blogging site similarly: $8-10 billion (£4.9-6.2 billion)

ESPN is reinvesting in its app offerings in advance of the forthcoming cricket world cup. Launching before the first ball is bowled, the app will be available on iOS and Android devices. In addition, ESPN's Goal Service will be re-launched. This popular app is the exclusive mobile provider for Premier League highlights and goals.

Many sites and services claim to be 'the future of social networking', but only Sedogo has chosen to focus its entire community around attaining future goals. Sometimes achieving a lifetime ambition can prove difficult because the goal itself requires skills, funding or opportunities

that take a lot of time to unlock — paragliding over the Himalayan peaks, for example. But sometimes it just comes down to personal inertia or a lack of commitment from a group of friends to actually get the thing done — say, saving that crumbling school or theatre. Sedogo allows you to create big or small goals, search for others with similar goals, invite people to share your goals, keep track of goals on a personal timeline, then share photos and videos of goals finally being conquered.