Twitter adds business model

Feeding the Twitter bird. Credit: wharman via Flickr.

The twitterati today are aflutter about a few crumbs that Twitter Chief Operating Officer Dick Costolo dropped during an interview with TechCrunch's Michael Arrington on how the microblogging service plans to make money.

With millions of people, organizations and businesses now using the service, there is keen interest in keeping the little blue Twitter bird alive. The question has always been: How?

Costolo today supplied a partial answer: Ads. But these won't be your father's Chevrolet ads. Twitter ads will be "fascinating," "non-traditional" and "really cool," Costolo said. "People will love the ads when they see it."

Another potential source of revenue: Charging customers who want to see their Twitter data, such as how many people click on the links and who's following whom. In industry parlance, such data are called analytics, and they give users an idea of which of their tweets are more effective at reaching an audience and whether readers are acting on those tweets.

Costolo dropped another morsel when he singled out Foursquare's Dennis Crowley as a "genius." (Foursquare lets users broadcast their geographic location, along with what they are doing: "In Century City, looking for good Indian food.")

How does this fit in with making money? Costolo didn't say. But the ability for advertisers to know where people are and what they are in the mood for is incredibly valuable.

With $155 million in venture funding, Twitter isn't in a huge hurry, but Costolo promised that the ads will be rolled out in 2010.

-- Alex Pham

Follow my random thoughts on games, gear and technology on Twitter @AlexPham.

Betting that Brizzly will be huge, ex-Googlers are working on things

Thing Labs in their San Francisco office. Chris Wetherell, middle left, and Jason Shellen, middle right. Credit: Mark Milian / Los Angeles Times

The mad scientists at Thing Labs have a very impressive track record.

On the sixth floor of a trendy building in San Francisco's recently renovated Mint Plaza, four former Google employees -- scratch that: five former Googlers, with today's addition of FriendFeed's (now Facebook's) Ben Darnell -- and a few others are working on things. Some very interesting things.

Founder Jason Shellen is purposely fuzzy with his description of ongoing projects. Whereas Google famously has "20% time," a policy that lets engineers spend one-fifth of their day working on anything they want, Shellen says his workers get "100% time."

For the last five months, the majority of that time has been spent building Brizzly, a Web application that combines your Twitter and Facebook profiles into a single interface.

After gaining some viral interest through its invitation-only sign-up system -- a strategy that has worked exceedingly well for Gmail and now Google Wave -- Brizzly is unlocking its doors today. Anyone can sign up and plug in their social network credentials.

But Brizzly remains in beta despite having tens of thousands of users. The product is ahead of most desktop apps in its stability and interface but is not yet a replacement for Facebook because you can't fully browse friends' profiles, view events or upload pictures. And the app currently lacks some newer Twitter features like geolocation, which is available in only a few programs anyway, and standardized retweet, a project originally spearheaded by Thing Labs' vice president of technology, Chris Wetherell.

So why should you care? There's plenty of websites and apps for accessing Twitter. TweetDeck and Seesmic, like Brizzly, can pull in Facebook as well. And while Brizzly is stuffed with potential even now in such an early stage, Shellen's track record hints that there's much more to come.

Pogoplug: A new device for new lifestyles?

The new Pogoplug. Credit: Cloud Engines.

One way to score a big hit in technology is to come up with not just a new gadget, but a new category. Of course, that is also a recipe for failure, because there's a risk that consumers don't think they need what you're selling.

That's the risk for Cloud Engines, a San Francisco company that makes something called the Pogoplug. They're calling it a "multimedia sharing device," in the hopes that people are looking for an easier way to share all the videos, photos and music that are now defining their digital lives.

The Pogoplug sells for $129. You plug it into your router, and then you plug a storage device -- like an external hard drive or a flash drive -- into it. You have then created what company Chief Executive Daniel Putterman calls "your personal cloud." Given the way the "cloud computing" buzzword reached the stratosphere this year, he may be onto something.

The sharing part comes in letting you give anyone access to your stuff without your ever having to upload it or e-mail it.

Engadget liked an earlier version of the product but wished it had Wi-Fi and ports for extra devices. Today the company announces the extra ports, but still no Wi-Fi.

And I can report that photos and material shared with me from a Pogoplug device worked seamlessly, like looking at any website.

-- Dan Fost

Techmeme's Gabe Rivera makes news aggregation profitable

Gabe Rivera, founder of news aggregator Techmeme. Credit: Mark Milian/Los Angeles Times.

Don't tell News Corp.'s Rupert Murdoch, but technology news aggregator Techmeme is raking in profits.

Rather than visiting the front pages of every newspaper or choosing a few out of brand loyalty, as Murdoch hopes consumers will do, aggregators put all of the Web's big headlines of the moment onto one page.

There's no shortage in news aggregation. General news readers might go to Google News, a computer-generated engine that pulls in more than 25,000 newspaper websites and authoritative blogs. Left-leaning political consumers might visit the Huffington Post; right-leaning ones might go to Drudge Report.

For tech news, Techmeme, with its smart computer algorithm for culling interesting links, is at the top. A space once dominated by sites like Slashdot and Digg, Techmeme is now the undisputed top influence for the Bay Area tech elite.

Today Techmeme launched a mobile site that's formatted for smart phones to appease news junkies on the go.

It sounds almost laughable that a 4-year-old property, being such a powerful voice in tech, took this long to build a phone-optimized interface. But Techmeme founder Gabe Rivera is not trying to build a trendy, cutting-edge site with its own comment system and social media share features.

Rivera is, to an extent, mimicking the medium that loudly whines about his breed of aggregation. "It feels like a newspaper," Rivera said over lunch last week in San Francisco. "It feels like something you can rely on."

Google gives first demonstration of its Chrome operating system

Google posted a video to explain its new operating system, Chrome OS, due out next year. Credit: YouTube.

Google's new Chrome OS operating system, which is designed to bypass computer hard drives and work totally by way of the Internet, got its first public preview today. 

The system, due out about a year from now, could eventually pose the first real competition for Microsoft's and Apple's consumer operating systems since the earliest days of home computers. Chrome's main difference is that applications and other materials that now exist on hard drive will instead live online.

It will be available, at least at first, only for the small netbook computers that use solid-state drives.

One of the main advantages of the operating system, as extolled by Google product manager Sundar Pichai, is speed. The entire online system popped up on the screen of a demonstration computer less than 10 seconds after rebooting.

Pichai compared it to hitting the "on" button of a TV. "You turn it on, and you should be on the Web," he said in a press conference webcast from company headquarters. 

Not surprisingly, the on-screen interface of the operating system looked much like a browser. On top were tabs showing programs for e-mail, documents, a chess game, a book e-reader and more.

Pichai showed how panels that popped up from the bottom of the screen (around Google, they've been nicknamed "moles") can be used to play music, instant message or show a quick video while browsing the Web or doing work.

The aim for consumers, Pichai said, is simplicity.  "We just want computers to be delightful and work," he said.

One of the keys to Chrome OS' success likely will be how much users can actually do with it, given that it won't be using much of the software in common use now. To that end, Pichai announced that, as of today, the company was making the system's computer code public so that outside developers could start making applications for it.

Google released an animated video on YouTube (which it owns) to explain Chrome OS to the public.

-- David Colker

Students can research books on their iPods.... But will they?

Questia Library Plus iPhone app. Credit: Questia

We'll spare you the obvious "there's an app for that" joke. But you can get a library's worth of books on your phone.

Questia, an online research portal for students, announced its application today for reading books, articles and periodicals on an iPhone or iPod Touch.

The app costs 99 cents for 5,000 public-domain books and a week of unlimited access. After that, users can buy a two-week subscription for $9.99.

There are so many things wrong with this we don't know where to start.

For one, students don't like to buy things. Especially digital things. Many strapped-for-cash college kids aren't buying songs at a dollar a pop. Why would they buy books they can find free in their university library or on Google Books?

But you get the convenience of reading and browsing on your iPod, right?

C'mon, have you ever tried reading anything substantial on that tiny screen? The Kindle app is great, but we can't get through a chapter without our eyes bursting into flames.

Two universities recently rejected the Kindle DX device as a replacement for textbooks, in part because it lacks features like advanced notation and text-to-speech. (Considering that the alternative is a paper book, their issues are kind of absurd, but that's for a different discussion.)

If they didn't like the Kindle, imagine what they'll think of a device that's about a quarter of the size.

The Questia app is a decent implementation of a very niche idea. If you're planning to actually do research with dozens of sources, you'll be better off with more fully featured alternatives, which includes Google's academic offerings and Questia's own desktop-friendly site.

-- Mark Milian
twitter.com/markmilian

The darker side of California's new TV wattage limits

The California Energy Commission unanimously approved a regulation today capping the power consumption of televisions sold in California starting in 2011. Although the Consumer Electronics Assn., which represents the world's largest TV makers, was apoplectic about the action, The Times' Marc Lifsher reports that one faction -- the LCD TV Assn. -- was all smiles. The reason? LCD sets are less power-hungry than plasma TVs. In other words, as so often happens when the government regulates products, it favors one technology over another -- and manufacturers know it, even if the regulators insist otherwise.

One other interesting sidelight: Seth Greenstein, outside counsel for the CEA, said the rules would bar many hotels and hospitals from buying televisions because such centrally controlled sets can't meet the new limits on power consumption when they're turned off. Philips Electronics warned the commission about this issue, to no apparent avail.

Read more about the possible unintended consequences of the new rule at the Times' opinion blog, Opinion L.A.

Corrected, 4:31 p.m.: In my haste, I incorrectly identified Seth Greenstein as Seth Greenspan in the original version of this post.

-- Jon Healey

Healey writes editorials for The Times' Opinion Manufacturing Division. Follow him on Twitter: @jcahealey

Guvera, a place for advertisers to give away music

After SpiralFrog's collapse and Qtrax's repeated misfires, I'm skeptical about any online music service that says it will give away advertiser-supported downloads. But Guvera, an Australian start-up launched by former advertising executive Claes Loberg, is different enough to make me think it might actually work.

Admittedly, I also liked Uplister, Echo and dozens of other ill-fated online music services. But Guvera, which is expected to announce a licensing deal this morning with Universal Music Group, has at least one thing going for it that SpiralFrog didn't and Qtrax has yet to demonstrate: a model that's friendly not just to consumers, but also to advertisers.

Radio and TV broadcasters on the defensive in D.C.

The Consumer Electronics Assn. and the CTIA (the main trade group for the mobile phone industry) urged the Federal Communications Commission today to consider reclaiming some digital TV airwaves and dedicating them to use with wireless devices. The chief executives of the CEA and CTIA sent a joint letter to members of the FCC, reminding them that the Telecommunications Act of 1996 required the commission to review how the digital TV airwaves were being used within 10 years of the first licenses being granted for DTV channels. Those licenses were issued nearly 11 years ago, so a review is technically overdue (not that deadlines seem to matter much in Washington). Said review is supposed to determine whether broadcasters could get by with less spectrum as well as evaluate alternative uses. According to the CEA-CTIA letter:

This spectrum is uniquely suited for mobile broadband applications, devices and services –
it has highly favorable propagation characteristics and is directly adjacent to the 700 and
800 MHz spectrum utilized by the commercial wireless industry. We therefore urge the
commission to take immediate action to initiate the congressionally-mandated evaluation
of broadcast television spectrum usage.

The DTV channels are extremely valuable, and broadcasters have tried for several years to find ways to use them for more than just high-definition TV signals -- for example, by transmitting a version of their programs that's customized for mobile devices, or leasing part of their channel to data service providers. They've also fiercely resisted the high-tech industry's push to allow unlicensed uses of empty TV channels -- the so-called white spaces -- in areas where it might interfere with local broadcasts. (The FCC sided with the tech firms last year, but the decision is under appeal.) But the FCC is under orders from Congress to develop a national plan for increasing the supply of broadband connectivity, and Chairman Julius Genachowski has said that the demand for wireless broadband will soon be an order of magnitude greater than the supply (a situation that Genachowski has called the "looming spectrum crisis"). So the commission may be unusually receptive to the idea of forcing TV stations to share more of their spectrum wealth.

But then, the National Assn. of Broadcasters has some powerful friends on Capitol Hill. Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.), former chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and still a formidable player, sent a letter to the FCC yesterday expressing concern about any move to devote digital TV airwaves to other uses. Quoth Dingell: "I believe that a further loss of spectrum by broadcasters may have an adverse effect on consumers by limiting their choice in available broadcast television."

Meanwhile, NAB officials started meeting in the Capitol today with representatives of the Recording Industry Assn. of America and musicians' unions to discuss a compromise approach to performance royalties -- which the NAB refers to as a performance tax on radio stations -- under the auspices of the chairmen and senior members of the House and Senate Judiciary committees. Members of the Democratic leadership are expected to drop by the sessions, raising the heat on the NAB to capitulate. Although the broadcasters' lobby has lined up 252 House members and 27 senators behind resolutions opposing new royalties for performing music publicly (on the air or at a business, such as a bar), both Judiciary committees have passed bills that would have a federal arbitration panel set royalties that local radio stations would have to pay. The bills also would set limits on the annual royalty payments for smaller businesses, public and religious broadcasters.

Looks like the broadcasters' lobbyists will be stuck playing defense for a while.

-- Jon Healey

Healey writes editorials for The Times' Opinion Manufacturing Division. Follow him on Twitter: @jcahealey

U.S.' $7.2-billion broadband stimulus program risks waste and fraud, GAO says

A.J. Bowen of Schupp's Line Construction works on fiber-optic installation in Norton, Vt. Credit:  Toby Talbot / Associated Press.

Federal programs to bring broadband Internet service to areas without it lack basic information and adequate safeguards to ensure that the money isn’t wasted, a new government report said.

The Commerce and Agriculture departments were given $7.2 billion to expand U.S. broadband availability as part of last February’s federal stimulus package.

But they have been scrambling to review a crush of grant and loan applications while facing tight deadlines to distribute the money, the Government Accountability Office said in a report released Monday.

The first allocation of funds, originally set for Nov. 7, has been delayed until December.

The agencies have had just two months to review 2,200 applications for the first round of funding alone, the report said.

By comparison, the California Public Utilities Commission took four to six months to review just 54 applications in a $100-million broadband program.

Under Congress’ mandate, all $7.2 billion must be distributed by Sept. 30, 2010.

The programs “present risks of waste, fraud and abuse,” the GAO said, due to the compressed timetable for distributing the money and because of inadequate data on what areas actually lack broadband service.

Officials “will be awarding loans and grants before the national broadband plan or broadband mapping is complete,” the report said.

Program funds are intended to be spent on expanding broadband network wiring, developing public computer centers in places such as libraries or schools, and “innovative projects to stimulate demand for, and adoption of, broadband.”

To prevent waste and fraud, the GAO urged the two entities responsible for distributing the money – the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service – to develop a way to review and measure the effectiveness of fund recipients beyond the year 2010.

The full report can be viewed here.

-- Scott J. Wilson

On Brightkite, ladies' night never ends

Two teens listen to music and send text messages on their cellphones in a coffee shop. Credit: Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times.

When Jonathon Linner describes his social networking website Brightkite, he sounds more like a savvy nightclub owner than the chief executive of a bleeding-edge Bay Area start-up.

Whereas most new technologies tend to favor the early adopter -- a generally male-skewed, try-everything, fad-friendly crowd -- Linner is focusing on a different audience: hot girls.

"Guys will go where the hot chicks are," Linner said over lunch a few months ago. "The target demographic is a girl in college," he reiterated in a recent phone interview.

How do you get girls in high demand to cozy up to a social network that asks users to pull out their phones and check in multiple times a day? Linner employs what he calls "the ladies' night approach."

"Bars do things to make women come there -- reduced-price drinks or free drinks," he said. "So we do things in our system to make it more inviting to women."

Brightkite's landing page is bubbly and colorful with cute cartoon characters and an emphasis on words like "simplicity."

Compare that to competing location-based network Loopt, with its shiny, sleek buttons and big map overlaid with widgets. Or the smaller but much-hyped website Foursquare, which is quick to highlight that it plays nicely with high-end smart phones.

When adding new features, Linner and his 32 or so employees have to take care not to tick off Brightkite's pioneering female users.

For example . . .

Tony Hawk is back in the game with Ride

 

Tony Hawk, the renown skateboarder who landed the notoriously difficult "900" maneuver a decade ago at the X-Games, next Tuesday comes out with Ride, the latest title in the blockbuster video-game franchise that bears his name.

This time, the 41-year-old is adding a new trick to his virtual routine — a skateboard controller that looks like the real thing -- but without the wheels. Loaded with high-tech sensors, the controller gets players off the couch and doing flips on the floor. Hawk gives a demo that you can watch by clicking on the video above, composed by Times videographer, Don Kelsen.

Will it be enough to revitalize the 10-year-old series?

Hawk’s past titles have sold about 43.5-million units worldwide, generating more than $1.5 billion dollars in sales for its publisher, Activision Blizzard, according to market research firms NPD Group and GfK Chart-Track. But sales and critical scores slipped for the last two iterations, Tony Hawk's Proving Ground and Tony Hawk's Project 8.

So, two years ago, both Hawk and Activision decided to take a different path. They switched from the franchise’s longtime developer, Neversoft Entertainment in Woodland Hills, to Robomodo in Chicago. And they added a sophisticated controller.

Hawk, whose home in Encinitas, Calif., has a custom-built 4,000-square-foot skate park, spoke with us today about his latest title and whether he thinks players will spring for the $120 game when it comes out on Tuesday.

Here’s an edited version of the interview.

Tell me about what you went through to create the skateboard for the game.

We have a graveyard of prototypes. The first version was a blank skateboard with the equivalent of a Wii remote. We tried roller balls that you could slide your foot on and digital compasses that can tell which direction your board is pointed in. We also tried adding a camera. We also had a board with buttons that you could step on, like with Dance Dance Revolution.

With one of our first prototypes, I tried to do a kick flip on it. It’s a maneuver where you jump in the air and make the board do a full rotation. The board snapped in half.

How does the skateboard controller compare with the Wii Fit Balance Board?

The Balance Board only measures weight distribution. Our controller captures every motion. Every time you...

Sezmi says hello to Los Angeles

Angelenos unhappy with the cable or satellite TV offerings in their neighborhoods will have a new, much less expensive option today: Sezmi, a novel combination of over-the-air broadcasting and broadband programming. The company is launching a trial run here in anticipation of a much broader rollout by March, providing free equipment and service for about three months to those who participate. (You can sign up at Sezmi's website.) Even after the free trial ends, the price will be far below competing pay TV services: just under $5 a month for local broadcasts, Internet channels and access to pay-per-view services, and an additional $20 a month for more than 100 cable TV networks. Sezmi has some issues -- some popular cable networks aren't on board, at least not yet, and its selection of Web programming is far too limited -- but it also offers some innovations that push TV service in the direction viewers want it to go.

Google Maps' Street View under Swiss scrutiny

Google Map's Street View of Hollywood Boulevard near Highland Avenue. Credit: Google Inc..

Internet search giant Google is facing court action in Switzerland because it isn’t meeting the country’s demands for tighter privacy protection with its Google Maps' Street View service, according to a Swiss government official.

Hanspeter Thuer, data protection commissioner, announced today in a statement that he plans to bring a suit against Google in the Federal Administrative Tribunal, according to an Agence France Presse report.

Thuer said Google rejected many of his recommendations after it went online in August.

Street View is a feature that lets users pick a point on a map and see a panoramic street-level image of the surroundings. By adjusting the location of the point, a user can take a virtual walk down the street. Google constructs the images from panoramic photos taken by cars it has equipped with cameras.

Faces had not been sufficiently blurred, and people were concerned about being shown near "sensitive locations, for example outside hospitals, prisons or schools," he said.

Google argues that it provides measures to protect privacy by making it possible for people to contact Google and ask to have pictures of their property removed from Street View. The company also said it spoke with privacy regulators and gave them an opportunity to raise questions.

“We’re proud of the blurring technology we’ve developed for Street View, and are confident the product is completely legal, but we wanted to go the extra mile to address Herr Thuer’s concerns,” the company said in a blog post.

Google ran into a similar problem in the U.S. this year when a Pennsylvania couple took the company to court, saying the feature was an invasion of privacy. A judge threw out the case in February, siding with Google, which said "complete privacy does not exist" and argued that photos and building plans of the couple's home were already available to the public on local government websites.

In the blog post, Google indicated it planned to fight the Swiss case as well: “We will vigorously defend Street View in court and we’re committed to continue bringing the benefits to Swiss users.”

-- W.J. Hennigan

In Los Angeles, it's the attack of the Twittering food trucks!

The Kogi BBQ truck started the Twitterin' truck trend. Credit: joshuaheller / flickr.

Take a walk down Main Street during one of downtown L.A.'s Art Walk nights (the second Thursday of every month), and you will see an element that does not at first blend in with all the paintings, sculptures, high heels and hipsters.

Lining the curbs from 4th Street on down are a caravan of parked food trucks, part of L.A.'s growing army of Twitterized mobile eateries, originated by the now-famous Kogi Korean BBQ truck.

But now the roving bands have expanded to such variously named rolling restaurants as Nom Nom Truck, Let's Be Frank, and the upcoming FrySmith, a "truck with fries that eat as a meal." 

There are sushi trucks, ice cream and shave ice trucks, Indian food trucks, Philadelphia cheese steak trucks (couldn't find the Twitter address but I saw it with my own eyes), coffee and sweets trucks, and even a food truck for vegans!

No doubt I have omitted a few trucks from this list, but the L.A. Metblog listed more of them a few months ago, and there's even a page that tracks tweetin' trucks.

-- David Sarno

Video game sales suffer 19% drop in October

Game sales drop for the seventh month this year. Credit: Mykl Roventine via Flickr.

Ouch! Sales of video games and consoles in the U.S. fell 19% in October compared with the same month last year, putting the industry on the path for a decline in 2009 sales over last year, NPD Group said this afternoon.

"The industry is on track to generate full-year revenues in the range of $20 billion to $21 billion in the U.S., which would put it just below last year's sales of $21.3 billion," said NPD analyst Anita Frazier.

As for the holiday season, which in past years is when game companies rack up as much as 40% of their sales, it seems people are becoming nervous as they watch the unemployment rate hit double digits. According to NPD's Economic Tracker survey, consumers' "personal outlook continues to erode."

If October is any indication, the industry may be headed for a grisly holiday. Console sales crashed 23% to $380.7 million, compared with last year's $497 million. Game software sales fell 18% to $572.7 million, down from $698.4 million a year earlier.

"You're seeing the effects of the recession," said Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Morgan Securities, who two weeks ago predicted that U.S. game sales would be down 5% this year.

Sales of music-based games, such as Beatles: Rock Band and Guitar Hero 5, have lagged behind last year's numbers as the beat begins to fade for some, Pachter said.

With mainstream players, the heroes of last year's soaring sales, missing in action this year, guess who's riding to the industry's rescue? It's hard-core gamers. Yes, those insane enough to stand in line for hours to be the first to get their hands on games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

The Activision title, a gritty combat game that's not for the faint of heart, took in $310 million during its first 24 hours of going on sale Tuesday in the U.S. and Britain. It's on track to bring in more than $1 billion in retail sales worldwide within a few months of release, according to a report by Lazard Capital Markets, putting it in the same entertainment blockbuster league as the movie "Titanic" and the album "Thriller."

October's results also confirm the reliability of avid gamers in tough times, with three of the top titles squarely in the hard-core category and another four spots going to sports titles generally purchased by loyal fans. To see the top 10 titles, click on the "continue reading" link below.

Google launches flu shot locator

Advertising for flu shots at a clinic in New York. Credit: Spencer Platt / Getty Images

Feel a fever coming on?

Now that flu season is in full swing, people are scrambling for a vaccine. And the rush is even more hectic because of the H1N1 scare.

To deal help with the high demand, Google Maps has launched a flu shot finder at google.com/flushot. It provides users with the locations of clinics that provide seasonal and H1N1 vaccines.

The site works like Google Maps. Enter a ZIP Code or the name of a city and the closest sites will pop up. Clinics offering H1N1 shots are blue. Those offering seasonal shots are red. And those providing both are half red and half blue.

Google worked in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as the Department of Health and Human Services on the project. The locater will eventually be linked on www.flu.gov and the American Lung Assn. website.

Be aware that many locations that are shown on the site are currently out of stock, Google said. So make sure you call ahead.

-- W.J. Hennigan

Clicker's guide to the unlimited-channel universe

One testament to the popularity of online video is the growing number of sites that serve as Internet program guides, helping people sort through the billions of available items to find something they might like to watch. The latest, Clicker, has its official launch at 10:30 this morning (it had been conducting an invitation-only trial since mid-September). Unlike most of the other guides, which direct users to videos available on their own sites, Clicker exists to help people find programming around the Web, including such sources as Hulu, YouTube or Revision3. And it directs users to legal content only, eschewing bootlegs and snippets posted on user-generated sites in favor of full-length content from the most convenient source. The goal, said CEO Jim Lanzone, is to be "the TV Guide for the next generation of television, whatever that evolves into."

Texting too much? It could weigh on your shoulders

Texting could be bad for your health. Credit: Natalie Behring 

Are your shoulders aching? Try putting that smart phone down. A Booster Shot blog cites a study in which researchers found a link between text messages and feeling discomfort in the shoulders. It might now be time to let your fingers do the walking -- on your shoulders.

-- Peter Pae

Sears launches trade-in program for cellphones, cameras and music players

A Sears store in Provo Town Center in Provo, Utah. Credit: Bloomberg News

Sears has teamed up with Gazelle.com, a company that specializes in eCommerce, to enable consumers to trade-in used electronics -- including cellphones, cameras, MP3 players and laptops -- for Sears gift cards.

Sears joins Costco and Walmart as the third major retailer in four months to engage in an electronics trade-in deal with Gazelle in hopes of generating revenue and promoting environmentally friendly practices.

To participate in the free program, consumers can go to www.sears.gazelle.com, fill out a questionnaire, and then ship their item to Gazelle. The company will inspect the item and determine payment based upon the type of product, its age and condition. Payment will be sent within seven days of inspection. (Consumers will not receive gift cards for items that are no longer functional, but those items will be accepted for recycling.)

According to Time magazine, every day Americans throw out more than 350,000 cellphones and 130,000 computers, making electronic waste the fastest-growing part of the U.S. garbage stream.

Karen Austin, president of Home Electronics at Sears Holdings, said the trade-in program is a good option to help conserve the environment.

"We are proud that through this partnership with Gazelle, approximately 90 percent of the home electronics items that consumers send in are expected to be reused and the remainder will be responsibly recycled," Austin said.

-- Melissa Rohlin