First the news: Yes, the rumors are true. We are indeed buying the assets of ContentNext Media from Guardian News & Media Limited. And no, we are not disclosing the terms of the deal, except that we are buying the entire group of properties — paidContent.org, mocoNews.net, contentSutra and paidContent:UK and that a representative of Guardian News & Media will join our board of directors as an observer.

A few weeks ago when Paul Walborsky, CEO of GigaOM, came to the board and suggested that we should try and acquire paidContent, my fellow board members — Jon Callaghan (True Ventures), Ammar Hanafi (Alloy Ventures) and Kevin Brown (Reed Elsevier Ventures) — didn’t hesitate for a minute. The ethos of paidContent and our company are in sync. GigaOM’s core belief is that as connectivity becomes ubiquitous, it changes everything from society to business to we the people. paidContent from the very beginning has been built on the idea that connectedness is and will change media. It makes perfect sense for us to team up. Since then, Paul and his team worked tirelessly to make it happen.

OK, now you know what. Let me tell you why.

Now, why are we doing this deal, clearly the biggest of our five-and-a-half-year history? Two simple but equally powerful reasons — the first and perhaps most important reason: people. I have been an admirer of paidContent’s editorial team from the very beginning of its journey. Rafat Ali and Staci Kramer were two of my favorite writers in the early days of professional blogging. And while Rafat (who is on our board of advisers) has moved on to new things, I am glad to have Staci join us. She has been instrumental in building ContentNext from the ground up, and in addition to writing, she has been building the company’s event business. I am thrilled to announce that she will remain the editor of paidContent.

Ernie Sander who spearheads the ContentNext editorial operations is the kind of veteran everyone on our team, including me, can learn from. And for that precise reason, Ernie is going to become the executive editor of our sprawling online editorial operations. Our managing editor, Nicole Solis, is being promoted to VP of Editorial Operations. And then there is the most awesome team of journalists — Robert Andrews, Tom Krazit, Daniel Frankel, Laura Hazard Owen, Jeff Roberts and Amanda Natividad. In addition there are a wonderful group of technology, business and sales people who are joining our company. I welcome them all to our growing family and can’t wait to break bread with them in weeks to come.

Location, location, location

These fine folks are actually going to help bolster our presence in New York and help increase our footprint in Europe, a region of key strategic focus for GigaOM. (We will be hosting Structure:Europe in Amsterdam, October 16-17.) With this deal, we are really pleased that one of the most forward-looking media outlets around, Guardian News & Media, will become a shareholder in our business.

As you all know, I am (and will always be) a displaced New Yorker; New York City is my spiritual home. By increasing our footprint in the capital of the world, I would get a chance to go back more often. But it’s not an emotional tug that is driving us to this decision. New York is fast becoming a major technology hub, as Ryan Kim outlined in his recent post. And we want to expand our coverage to Boston — thanks to Barb Darrow who joined us several months ago — and the Washington DC corridor as well. paidContent’s New York City offices are now GigaOM East.

Media is the new Wild West

We are quite strategic about our acquisitions — we acquire media entities only if we love the people and believe that we are at the starting phase of a trend. In 2008, we acquired jkOnTheRun as our tip of the hat to the growing demand for mobile devices and the changes it would bring into society. Later that year, we brought in The Apple Blog because we knew the best was yet to come for Apple. Both of those acquisitions have helped GigaOM cover the issues that matter most to our ultimate customers — you, the reader — in a smart, sensible fashion.

“The question that mass amateurization poses to traditional media is ‘What happens when the costs of reproduction and distribution go away? What happens when there is nothing unique about publishing anymore because users can do it for themselves?’ We are now starting to see that question being answered.”— Clay Shirky

Shirky’s observation means that we are in a time of chaos where the very idea of media is being questioned. And as a Chinese proverb says, from chaos emerges opportunity. I believe the best is yet to come for media.

Over the past few years we have started to see the transformation of media by new technologies, new methods of distribution and newer ways to consume information. Mathew Ingram has been writing about these disruptions on a regular basis, and now we are going to double down on what we think is a great new chapter in the media industry.

I have always believed that we’ve got to stop thinking of media as what it was and focus on more of what it could be. In the world of plenty, the only currency is attention and attention is what defines “media.” Zynga is fighting Hollywood for attention (and winning). Instagram is taking moments away from other media. They have attention. There are old companies that are dying and new ones that are being invented. We’re eager to expand our coverage of social and digital media editorially, in our research and at our events. paidContent is the best chronicler of the media industry, and by blending their coverage with ours, we hope to watch this fast-changing industry ever more closely.

Please join me in welcoming the ContentNext team!

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So far, the extent of Sony’s 2012 smartphone portfolio for the US extends only to the AT&T-bound Xperia Ion, with no word just yet whether the see-through banded Xperia S will arrive on American shores. What happens if it was called the Xperia Sola? That very name’s showed up at the US Patent and Trademark Office, although that’s largely it. So it could be a phone we’ve already seen, or perhaps one of those many road-mapped pseudonyms. Well, with a certain big mobile event just around the corner, we’re sure to get a few more answers on Sony’s other plans for the New World later this month.

Sony Xperia Sola appears at US Patent Office, forgets to mention its codename originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Honeywell's thermostat with Opower software

Honeywell, one of the world’s largest thermostat makers, tells me that twenty years ago it tested out thermostats that can learn the home owner’s behavior and adapt the heating and cooling accordingly, but ultimately decided that consumers didn’t take to them, and would rather control their thermostat themselves.

I asked Honeywell’s President of its Environmental and Combustion Controls division, Beth Wozniak, in an interview if Honeywell was interested in making learning thermostats, because there’s been so much discussion about the startup Nest, which has created what it calls the world’s first learning thermostat.

“We found that consumers prefer to control the thermostat, rather than being controlled by the thermostat,” said Wozniak. Instead of learning thermostats, Honeywell is focused on adding intelligence to digital and connected thermostats through simple UI, mobile apps, and partnerships like its one with Opower.

Opower will be providing the analytics and data to help Honeywell use home and building thermostats for demand response programs, where utilities can ask home owners to turn down their heating and cooling slightly during peak times of day. The Opower thermostats are being piloted with utilities right now, including at PG&E. The Opower software will also be used to create new ways for the home owner to save money on their energy bill, and Wozniak says by the end of the year the partnership will launch other products too.

For Honeywell, connected thermostats are still a small part of the company’s overall thermostat sales. While Wozniak declined to say what percent or what volume of Honeywell’s thermostat sales are connected thermostats, she said it’s the very early days of the connected thermostat market. Honeywell sells a whole host of other connected home products such as humidifiers and security systems, and a “total connected home system.”

Who knows if Nest and its learning thermostat will one day make a dent in the thermostat market, but Wozniak acknowledges that the startup has brought some much-needed attention to consumer thermostats in general. “Cell phones and tablets have set a whole new bar for how things can be connected.”

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Let’s just get this out of the way, shall we? If the LG Spectrum looks familiar, you’re not imagining things. It may have been a highlight at the company’s CES press event last month, but the handset bears more than a passing resemblance to its older, more excitingly-named sibling, the LG Nitro HD — and, by extension, the globe-trotting Optimus LTE. Beneath their 4.5-inch IPS displays, you’ll find virtually identical guts, including a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1,830mAh battery and 4GB of internal storage, coupled with a 16GB microSD. There are some important distinctions here, of course — namely, changes to the phone’s shell and, of course, a shift from AT&T to Verizon. So, how does world-weary Optimus fare from its jump to Big Red? Find the answer past the break.

Continue reading LG Spectrum review

LG Spectrum review originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Samsung Galaxy Note available at AT&T February 19th for 0, pre-orders begin February 5th

Samsung Galaxy Note available at AT&T February 19th for 0, pre-orders begin February 5th originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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DirtySock.dll… indeed it’s among the strangest named data files inside House windows, but it’s constantly causing mistakes with regard to Fifa world cup gamers all over the world. The file is utilized to assist compute numerous essential options, options and also data files which let the Fifa world cup sport (& other folks) in order to load up several important selections for the overall game. If you’re obtaining mistakes with this particular file, it means that you have to be able to repair the issues that your system could have : a process which may be carried out by with all the guide outlined in this article.

What Causes The actual DirtySock Problem?

* Your computer could have problems preventing that through operating correctly
* House windows is going to be not able to procedure the files which DirtySock needs to operate
* Your system will have computer registry errors / problems

How To Repair DirtySock.dll Problems

The initial step to fix the particular DirtySock problem on your PC would be to re-install the application form that’ll be top the mistakes to appear. This can be done by clicking on onto Commence > Control Panel > Add And Eliminate Applications then selecting which video game produces the particular errors (which will probably become “FIFA”). Remove this system directly from the body, and then make sure that it is possible to reboot your personal computer & set up the application once again. This makes sure your computer can run the overall game correctly, permitting the body to work since efficiently as you possibly can.

After re-installing the actual defective / harmful program, next obtain new edition associated with DirtySock.dll, then place it to your system. This will not only keep your pc can operate because easily as you can, but will up-date the particular dirtysock.dll document, improving its overall performance in the simplest way feasible.

Lastly, you also need to be capable of get rid of any of the pc registry errors that your system may have. The computer registry is really a huge databases that retailers information that helps this in order to recall anything from your own desktop picture to your most recent email messages – enabling Windows to operate substantially softer plus more easily because of this. Use a system called a “registry cleaner” to correct the many conditions that can lead to problems on your system; and also we have identified a tool referred to as Frontline Registry scanner Two.Zero is easily the most efficient regarding solving DirtySock.dll problems on your own method. This tool can be utilized simply by getting onto your PC and then correcting every one of the parts of the actual Windows method that are ruined or even corrupted.

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