Yes, life is good. After Apple announced and released the iPhone / iPod Toch software update (version 2.0), I had a chance to install it on my iPod Touch (32GB) and play with it.

It’s amazing! You basically now have a ultra mini Mac on the plam of your hand. The iPhone 2.0 software install was a breeze. I ran iTunes, went to my iPod Touch home screen and clicked on the “software update” button. The rest was a simple updated.

The new MobileMe service was introduced by Apple (replacing the current .Mac service) on July 13th (along with the new iPhone and the new iPhone 2.0 software…all at the same time).

The transition, unfortunately, did not go smoothly. Many people complained of .Mac email outages in various locations around the world.

PaidContent.org is reporting that Flickr, which is owned by Yahoo, partnered with Getty Images to sell photographs from “hand selected” users of Flickr.

CNET is reporting today that YouTube will be adding pre-roll and post-roll ads to the videos that users uploads to their site.

If you are looking for someone (not something) then check out Whozat.com. The interface is pretty simple. You enter the person’s first name and last name (you can also enter a middle name and/or initial and some keywords if you want) and it will comb the following to search for that person:

Google introduced the Google Media Server, a UPnP driven application that offers a way to view any media that is indexed by the Google Desktop application on your TV or any other device.

Apple Released last night Pro Applications Update 2008-02 which includes updates to the Final Cut Pro and Compressor.

MySpace is launching the ability for third party developers to build applications using their API. Most of the other major Social Networks have done that already, with the most famous of all being FaceBook.com.

The Firmware 2.0 for iPhone will be out on July 11th, reports MacRumor.com. 2.0 brings the ability to add applications to the iPhone (and iPod Touch) via the new Apple AppStore which will be introduced at the same time as the firmware 2.0.

TechCrunch reported today that Instinctiv, a new startup, launched today and simultaneously announced their first round of angel funding.

The Associated Press reported today that Sony will offer a movie download service for it’s PlayStation 3 home console this summer in the U.S.

NAB 365 is reporting that American Airlines will let their customers test in-flight internet access on two flights beginning today for free (just for the testing period).

YouTube launched some great new features (perhaps new to me since I just noticed them) including:

• Video Annotations
• New Address Book
• Updated Inbox
• YouTube Insight
• YouTube Mobile

If anyone tells you we are not going through another .com era, tell them about Twitter getting a valuation of $100 million without a business plan (or any way to really monetize their service) and Veoh now getting another $30 million in funding, bringing it’s total funding to a whopping $70 million.

There are plenty of rumors (based on the Mac rumor sites) that Apple will seed developers an early build of Mac OS X 10.6 at this year’s WWWDC.

JPL is using Twitter to to relay information about the Mars Phoenix Lander to us earthlinks.

Yup! You read the title of this blog entry correctly! Here they (marketing VPs) go again. Forum One Networks found in a recent study that 33% of those polled indicated that their budget for social media marketing is $100k to over $1 million dollars (yes…$1 million…as in Dr. Evil!) Of that, 33% claimed budgets of over one million dollars.

So now your feed can’t even escape the Google Ads. Looks like starting this week, Feedburner, which is owned by Google, will begin offering the ability to embed ads in your feed that are context sensitive.

I read a very interesting article about capturing the HDV footage from my Canon XH-A1 directly into Final Cut Pro 6.0.3 using Pro-Res at Moviola.

Adobe announced via Adobe Labs their beta release of Dreamweaver CS4, Fireworks CS4 and Soundbooth CS4. You can go right now and download each of the applications to play with and try out.

I was reading a very interesting article on TechCrunch about Facebook becoming the next Microsoft (as in OS).

My home page on my browser is set to CNN.com. I love reading their stories. So, as part of my morning routine, after getting my 1st cup of coffee, I turn on the computer and launch Safari.
A news headline catches my eye “Rotating car has no need for reverse“. […]

TechCrunch reported today about a new video player called DimP (Direct Manipulation Player) which allows viewers to scrub through the video by dragging the actual objects in the video instead of the timeline.

If you spend a lot of time on Facebook (not that I do!), you might want to think about getting compensated for it. A new application on Facebook called URTurn wants to compensate you for your time spent on social networks.

CNET News reported today that Twitter closed $15 million in series B funding with an $80 million dollar valuation and yet, has absolutely no business plan and no way of monetizing what they are doing (at least that they have made public).

If you haven’t yet checked out the social network browser Flock, you must do so immediately, especially if you are a social network junkie (or, like me, use social networks for your day to day business development).
Head on now (why are you still here?) to Flock.com and download the browser for your platform.
This browser was […]

A story in The Hollywood Reporter states that ABC.com has upgraded their video player with new features including:

• Full Screen Viewing
• Closed captioning
• Ability to send video links that can be embedded on blogs and social networks

Techcrunch.com reported today that Facebook will redesign it’s profile pages with a cleaner design.

Macworld reported today that Netflix has partnered with a company called Roku to bring a set-top box that will allow you to stream any movie that Netflix offers in their “instant” service.

I attended Digital Hollywood (you can check out my coverage by watching the EXPOzed Podcast) and learned a lot about monetizing your content, however, it seems that most people feel the only way to monetize your digital content, that is, your web videos, podcasts, blogs, website content, etc. is to get sponsors and/or advertisers.

Very interesting article in Website Magazine today about where should you place analytics code (such as Google Analytics).
Should you place it at the end of the page or at the beginning of the page?
Let’s talk about why at the beginning of the page.
If you have a slow loading page, by placing the code […]

Steven Spielberg, Harrsion Ford, George Lucas where on Seesmic promoting their new movie, Indiana Jones.

YouTube is now offering a new demographics section in their Insight analytics for YouTube. Log into YouTube.com, click on “my account” and under Performance and Data Tools, click on YouTube Insight.

Adobe releases Flash Player 10 beta supporting 3D effects, custom filters, advanced text layout, plus much more…

There is really great company called Animoto that allows you to upload video and photographs and it will automatically create for you a very cool slide show (though it really looks more like a music video) to whatever music you give it.
It’s so cool, that it looks like the #1 Internet store in the world, […]

I ran into an amazing website called Sprout (they just got $5 million second round) which allows you to build Flash widgets easily using the sproutbuilder.com You don’t even have to create an account, you just click on “Get started” and you are off creating these widgets.

Are you or your company looking for a solution to webcast your next product introduction, news item or whatever else you want to communicate to the public? Check out Wirecast from Vara Software.

If you use social networks for business, then you need to check out Sometrics, a startup that gives you analytics for your social networks.