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Google Goes Live with Music Discovery Site Magnifier

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August 18, 2011
  • Three months after Google launched its cloud-based Music Beta, the company has introduced a new music discovery site called Magnifier.
  • According to the Official Google Blog: “Magnifier will feature great music and the people who make it, including videos of live performances, interviews with artists, explorations of different musical genres and free songs that you can add to your Music Beta collection.”
  • To kick-off Magnifier this week, Google is featuring indie rockers My Morning Jacket. “We’re giving away two of their tracks to Music Beta users, one of which is an exclusive to Magnifier: a live performance of ‘The Day is Coming.’ To get these free tracks and hundreds of other songs in our Free Song Archive, you need a Music Beta by Google account (if you don’t have an account, request an invitation).”
  • There is no mention that Google analyzes your Music Beta library to suggest new songs, but they certainly could do so.

Plizy: Cloud-Based Video Discovery and Recommendation Platform

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July 1, 2011
  • Plizy is a new cloud-based discovery and recommendation platform for Internet video.
  • The company currently offers an iPad app and will soon roll out to other devices.
  • The app makes recommendations from 300 Web “channels” based on an individual’s video habits, interests and social graph.
  • It downloads content for later viewing where they have agreements with owners.
  • The company is signing deals with content owners for quality content.
  • “You can enjoy TED, YouTube, Vimeo, Twitter, Facebook at the same place. And we are adding something new in the coming days, which is the ability to download some content, so you will be able to download TED videos [for example] and watch them on the plane or the bus or in a train. So we’re trying to push the experience, the discovery, and the access to the best content,” explains Jonathan Benassaya, founder and CEO of Plizy.

Discovery Launches Curiosity.com to Complement New Series

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June 21, 2011
  • Discovery has launched a compelling new website designed to complement the network’s upcoming Curiosity TV series (August 2011).
  • Curiosity.com is a Q&A platform that presents interesting thoughts from some of the most talented people across a wide range of professions and areas of study.
  • Current contributors include Google’s Chief Internet Evangelist Vint Cerf and Nobel Peace Laureate Elie Wiesel.
  • Cerf shares his ideas on what “friendship” means in the age of social media in addition to answering an array of tech-related questions. (Recent questions answered: Does misinformation on the Internet force us to think more critically? Is this the best time to be interested in science? What pieces of the Internet need to be fixed? What are some persistent threats to innovation?)
  • Wiesel addresses human rights, forgiveness and the power of the media. (Recent questions answered: Will future generations ever end discrimination? How can young people make change? What is your advice for future generations? What does the election of President Obama represent?)
  • Video interviews featuring new luminaries and innovators will be introduced each week.
  • Discovery plans to add social sharing functionality that will allow users to create their own profile pages and spark their own discussions.

Discovery Channel HD Offers Free iPad App

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March 6, 2011

Fans of Discovery Channel HD programming may be interested in the free Discovery app for the iPad (released March 2, 2011). Three days after the app’s release, its developer Bottle Rocket Apps announced that Discovery Channel HD was “the top free iPad app on the entire iTunes App Store.”

Features of the new app include chat sessions with show hosts and fans, images (including production stills), daily video clips, scheduling information, tune-in reminder alerts, science news, social interaction via Facebook and Twitter, and more.

The app is available at iTunes: Discovery Channel HD by Discovery Communications

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