Google: People will pay for web content, says Google

At WAN 2008 Nikesh Arora, the President of Google Europe, Middle East, Africa and VP of UK operations stated the rise of paid news content on the web.

He even goes as far as to predict the demise of the blogosphere and the continued dependence on internet based commodities (mashable mapping, messaging etc. products).

Y0u can read the article here.

This is especially scary as we move the public internet increasingly over private pipes. Will ISPs start charging tolls to content providers to serve paid content? Will we see a CableTV model deployed here with carriers, broadcasters and content holders?

Google is bold in saying this. If I only have content purchased from Toronto Star, TSN, and ESPN - Why in the world would I need search.

Over and Out

Microsoft Zune Development Platform RELEASED!!!!! (CTP)

Why is this not news? Do people really not care about Zune. With this release it will be interesting to see what new apps we can load on our devices.

Anyway, as predicted the Microsoft Zune Development Platform has arrived. I'm thinking cardless card games :).

Officially, this is a gaming platform. Unofficially, it's a development platform.

Check out the Zune blog here.

Keep in mind the full platform will not be released until Holiday 2008.

If you are desperate for the CTP direct download from Microsoft try clicking here.

I'm downloading tonight and will report on my development experiences on this blog.

Over and Out

Microsoft Zune Dev Platform coming soon???

I bought a Zune 2 80GB media player because I believed in Microsoft when they gave the Zune 2.0 software update to all the Zune 1 users.

In February, Microsoft stated (on their XNA Team blog) that Zune game development would be possible in XNA Studio 3.0.

"A preview release of XNA Game Studio 3.0 will be available in the Spring 2008 timeframe, with a final release scheduled for the holiday 2008 season."

Moreover, they went even further to suggest the following api functionalities:

"Keeping with Zune media experience, XNA Game Studio 3.0 integration includes discoverability and access to user’s music allowing the user to customize background soundtracks or create real-time visualizations. In addition, the XNA Community Games Platform team has announced the ability to have multiple Zunes wirelessly engage in an ad-hoc gaming experience."

I visited the XNA Creators Club site today and they are showcasing Zune development (picture above right). Does this mean the Game Studio release is right around the corner? Or have they not updated their site since February?

I have to say, I may be a minority, but I really like my Zune!

Over and Out