When the Fanhattan iPad app launched in early June, the idea was to help viewers access the movies and TV shows they wanted to watch across a number of video services available on the Apple tablet. With a unified search function and access to advanced metadata, as well as a smart navigation system, Fanhattan delivered an easy way to find their favorite content wherever it was. The one thing it lacked was a social discovery and recommendations mechanism. That’s been corrected in the latest update, which went live Tuesday.

Fanhattan is betting big on integrating social networks — especially Facebook — which will not only provide more interesting content for users to watch, but will allow them to share their own interests with friends. Once signed in to Facebook on the app, Fanhattan users will be able to get recommendations from their social graph, including movies and TV shows that their friends have liked on the social network.

Users can also “Like” content of their own on Fanhattan, which serves a couple of purposes. First off, liking a piece of content will help Fanhattan recognize what types of movies and TV shows a user is interested in, which will eventually help build its recommendations system. Secondly, the Like function allows users to share their interests with their friends, giving others an idea of what they’re watching.

Liking a show also helps surface posts about related movies, shows and actors on user Facebook walls. As part of the integration, the company has introduced a Fanhattan widget for Facebook, which posts likes to user’s Facebook walls and appears in their friends’ news feeds. When a user likes a piece of content in the app, the widget will let their friends see where they can watch those videos.

But the social elements don’t end with Facebook — Fanhattan has also added Twitter integration to let users participate in conversations around their favorite TV series or movies. Users can now directly follow conversations from within the app, without having to go to Twitter.

Finally, Fanhattan has added support for Vudu, adding a whole new source of streaming content that can be watched on the iPad. The app already let users search between native apps from Netflix, Hulu Plus, iTunes and ABC. By adding Vudu, Fanhattan will, for the first time, also surface content from within the iPad’s Safari browser. That’s because, rather than introducing an app, Vudu is making its streaming video-on-demand service available via a mobile website.

Fanhattan is just the latest video discovery company to embrace social networks for finding out about new videos. Apps like Boxee, as well as web experiences from startups like VHX.tv enable viewers to connect with their friends on social networks and see what they’re watching and sharing. But Fanhattan is the first to get integrated with premium content apps like Netflix and Hulu Plus, which lets them link back directly to Hollywood studio and broadcast TV content.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
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• The new video paradigm: Discovery is king
• Connected Consumer Q1: The Over-the-Top vs. Pay TV Battle Heats Up
• Connected Consumer Q4: New Platforms and OTT’s Dynamic Duo Dominated

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Yamaha motorcycles have built a reputation for laser edge technology and forward-thinking design. Yamaha motorcycles include the Yamaha YZF-R1 and YZF-R6, the Yamaha FJR1300 touring motorbike, and the FZ1 and FZ6 Yamaha street motorcycles. Yamaha motorcycles are built with performance and comfort in mind, with an amazingly broad range of options, and are created to enrich your lifestyle. Rapidly picked up by racers, Yamaha motorcycles have been winning races at virtually all levels for years.

If you’re searching for even more info in a format that is fun and simple to understand, The Yamaha motorcycles Channel provides details and specifications on all of your favorite models – including especially safe models that your motorcycle insurance company will definitely love! You can research by security features that are especially motorcycle insurance friendly, thus getting a motorbike which will help keep your motorcycle insurance rates low.

Additionally, you can even find out about the history of Yamaha motorcycles. For instance, Yamaha motorcycles and the Yamaha Motor Company was founded in Japan in 1955. To begin with, Yamaha had been a manufacturer of quality musical instruments, but in 1955 they expanded in to making motorcycles. The very first Yamaha motorcycles were sold in the United States by Cooper Motors, an independent seller. Essentially, Yamaha motorcycles showed the globe they were here and should be thought of as strong and fierce competitors straight away. You can also find a photographic history of Yamaha motorcycles from 1955 to 2001.

Use any motorbike finder search function to get everything you need on Yamaha motorcycles. Any seller or Yamaha motorcycles focused web page should have a search feature you can utilize. Utilizing their database of Yamaha motorbike sellers, you can quickly find the closest source for the latest new and pre-owned Yamaha motorcycles. At any given time, you are able to find over 100 pre owned motorcycles in stock and ready for instantaneous delivery from any amount of Yamaha motorcycles dealerships within driving distance, or even a somewhat wider search area.

Google’s been talking up its Social Search function for sometime, but up until now your friends’ tweets probably haven’t made it to the top of your search results — unless of course you’re besties with TMZ, and you’ve been searching the Miley Cyrus bong salvia rip again. Thankfully, it looks as if that could change with El Goog’s latest update to the socially minded search function, which now mixes updates from your contacts’ various online accounts, like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, in with the standard search fair — pulling them up from their previous position at the bottom of your results. Google’s also included a photo and annotation to show the origins of relevant links, and given you the ability to manage how you connect your accounts — either publicly through your profile or privately through your account. The new functions started rolling out yesterday, which means you could be seeing a whole lot more from those contacts you regretted friending in the first place. Isn’t social media a wonderful / disastrous thing?

Google Social Search update makes your friends more relevant, difficult to ignore originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 19 Feb 2011 08:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Engadget

Google’s been talking up its Social Search function for sometime, but up until now your friends’ tweets probably haven’t made it to the top of your search results — unless of course you’re besties with TMZ, and you’ve been searching the Miley Cyrus bong salvia rip again. Thankfully, it looks as if that could change with El Goog’s latest update to the socially minded search function, which now mixes updates from your contacts’ various online accounts, like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, in with the standard search fair — pulling them up from their previous position at the bottom of your results. Google’s also included a photo and annotation to show the origins of relevant links, and given you the ability to manage how you connect your accounts — either publicly through your profile or privately through your account. The new functions started rolling out yesterday, which means you could be seeing a whole lot more from those contacts you regretted friending in the first place. Isn’t social media a wonderful / disastrous thing?

Google Social Search update makes your friends more relevant, difficult to ignore originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 19 Feb 2011 08:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Google  | Email this | Comments
Engadget

Whether you are the head of a large corporation or just a small business, you are probably using a number of software to help you automate certain processes. Word processors, spreadsheets, graphic design, email clients, point of sale systems – these are just some of the computer programs that you might be using today. But the big question is, are you using these efficiently? Here are some reasons why you need software training courses.

You must know that by merely purchasing the latest and most advanced piece of software, that it does not immediately translate to better productivity for you and your employees. You should know that it is just a piece of a computer program and that it would still need a person to operate it or at least to know how to use it properly. Otherwise, you will not be getting the most out of that software. You can then consider it as a bad investment on your part.

Therefore to help you fully understand the importance of software training courses, I have listed here some of the top reasons why any company can benefit from it.

Email client

You are probably using an email client to help your whole office become more efficient in handling emails. But are you really reaping the benefits of such a great piece of software? You should train your employees on how to properly segregate emails into folders so that they can easily retrieve any information or message that they need. This is because sometimes using the search function is not enough.

Spreadsheets

Just like with any other office or business, you are probably a heavy user of spreadsheets. This is because these computer programs are very handy as it can help in almost every aspect of a business like sales, marketing, human resources, and administration. But the thing is do you and your employees know how to use it the right way? Or how to take full advantage of its features? With the right Microsoft Excel training Melbourne, your employees can improve their productivity.

Word processor

Virtually every office in the country is using a word processor for all their document needs. If all you need from it is to create some short documents like memos or letters, then you and your employees are more than likely already well-versed with it. However, if you want to take full advantage of its other features, you may have to go undergo some software trainings.

Image manipulation software

There are many variants for this kind of software. There are those that are meant for photo editing. There are also those programs that can help you design and draw. Whichever you need, the professional grade software would cost you hundreds of dollars. All the more that you should get training for the person who would be using it.

These are just some of the software and also the main reasons why you should get software training courses for your office, particularly for your employees. Because this is one of the best ways that you can improve your office’s productivity. Just make sure you are getting the right registered training organisation Melbourne to help you.

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