PaidContent is not only just a news website but it also functions as a catalyst for change in the industry, sponsoring its own branded conferences that discuss the evolution of media and technology. Through the acquisition, GigaOM will be able to expand its reach beyond tech heads and enthusiasts. PaidContent and its parent company ContentNext were previously owned by Guardian News & Media.

That company is best known for its namesake UK-based website Guardian.co.uk. In recent years, though, the site has been attracting a lot more viewers in the US. Guardian’s acquisition of ContentNext was no doubt a push to reach the North American market, but as the Guardian’s own primary website has begun to do that, it decided to put ContentNext up for sale. Enter GigaOM, which now joins the ranks of companies like AOL and SAY Media in the world of digital publishing acquisitions.

[via NY Times]

This bold and ambitious new plan is planned to come to fruition some time this summer. Then, by the end of 2013, the number of hours of content will grow to 16 hours per day, literally pitting it against CNN, Fox News, and the other 24-hour news channels which only offer about 15-17 hours of news and then several hours of re-aired programming during the overnight hours. This announcement came from a blog post written by Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington, who actually has very little to do with the site’s day-to-day operations anymore.

People won’t just be watching it from their computers, either. It will “live on every platform — computer, smartphone, tablet, Over-the-Top TV — with the goal of creating the most social video experience anywhere,” Huffington wrote. It’s a good thing she wrote it because we probably wouldn’t have been able to understand anything with her thick Greek accept. The Huffington Post now belongs to AOL, which purchased the domain last year for $315 million.

[via Reuters]

A source speaking with Business Insider spoke of a “definite” set of talks about consolidation of the groups, be they Microsoft and AOL, Microsoft and Yahoo!, or others. Speaking anonymously for fear of being chopped into a million pieces for revealing said information, this BI trusted source spoke thusly on the matter:

“Definitely, people are talking about it. People generally expect AOL to come apart one way or another. I don’t think that’s an interesting asset. It’s just been so beaten down. Yahoo is a lot more interesting. If it comes into play, then at least their U.S. media business is a pretty interesting asset. It’s complicated because of those Asian assets.”

This same source also spoke on how Microsoft is re-evaluating how powerful MSN is and how crucial it is to have MSN help Bing “win.” Ex-AOL rep Ted Cahall recently came to Microsoft and turned MSN around to make it the growing business it is today. In the face of lowering stocks and reports of less than positive inner-workings going on, this is all great news for Microsoft’s online devision. The source noted:

It’s not every day that you watch both of your competitors blow themselves up. It’s like watching a train wreck. … The portal space is challenged. Facebook is just absorbing more and more minutes – usage. That’s having an effect on portals. The time shifting toward mobile is another factor weighing on portals. The problems AOL and Yahoo have are exacerbated by management.”

What do you think? Microsohoo!? Perhaps the key to making both AOL and Yahoo! prosperous to a giant degree again is to give the big ax to the entire management board? Microsoft, can you do it?

[via Business Insider]

The suit was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia and it was field by I/P Engine, Inc. The suit alleges that the companies are infringing on a patent held by I/P Engine that has to do with relevance filtering technology for search results. The company also claims that the tech is used to place ads with more relevance online.

I/P Engine says that it acquired the patents as part of a portfolio of patents that were purchased from Lycos. Lycos had acquired the patents in the purchase of a company called WiseWire Corporation. What the company is seeking in the suit is unknown right now, but I would assume it to be licensing fees and damages if it wins.

Established independent YouTube stars aren’t excited about the new development, but understand that it makes business sense for Google to do this. Many of the more popular YouTube stars are now YouTube partners with the company meaning they get a check from YouTube for their number of views and subscriptions. These independent stars can make up to six figures a year through their YouTube channels.

With the influx of celebrity channels may give independent YouTubers less of chance to get popular. “I’m not really expecting handouts from Google, but I feel that they should definitely contribute more to people that have a proven track record of being consistent and devoted to the site from the beginning, rather than people that are using it just because they’re getting some money thrown at them,” says one independent YouTube star, Alex Negrete (keeptheheat).

[via Business Insider]

“The company still gets eighty percent of its profits from subscribers, many of whom are older people who have cable or DSL service but don’t realize that they need not pay an additional twenty-five dollars a month to get online and check their e-mail. “The dirty little secret,” a former AOL executive says, “is that seventy-five percent of the people who subscribe to AOL’s dial-up service don’t need it.” Ken Auletta, New Yorker

According to AOL’s most recent SEC filing, subscription revenues and overall subscriber numbers are down; just 4.1m at September 30 2010. The 10-Q also confirms that 43-percent of AOL revenue comes from subscriptions; it’s not clear how the source figures that the profits are primarily from subscribers.

[via Slashdot and via Huffington Post]

R3 Media Network

Editor’s Choice
Netflix eyes international push in 2011 [WATCH OUT WORLD]
Nokia Android Honeycomb tablet is latest odd OS rumor [COULD BE NEATO]
PSP2 renders stoke next-gen Sony gaming rumor fire [PSP2PS2PSP]
McAfee: Apple, Google TV, Facebook and iPads all key 2011 cybercrime targets [CRIME!]

Android Community
Verizon to focus on Android not a new iPhone at CES
New details on PlayStation app for Android surface
SBN Tech bringing new Android videophone to CES
Nokia name-checked as Android Honeycomb tablet producer
Sony Ericsson’s 1GHz XPERIA mini pro replacement leaks
Fans of Angry Birds Blocking Ads on Android Version VS Ads Not as Prevalent as at Launch
Motorola Cliq 2 for T-Mobile Images Leak
HTC EVO Shift 4G Releasing January 9th for $150, According to RadioShack
HTC Thunderbolt on Verizon TWELVE PHOTOS

SlashGear
2011: The Year of Pentaband? [COLUMN]
Palm hiring spree highlights push for developers & new form-factors
Vodafone Huawei EC W820 video call home tablet hits FCC
Olympus XZ-1, Sony 1080p60 super-autofocus and Panasonic S-Series tipped for CES 2011 compact avalanche
ELP energy-monitoring system allows remote appliance control [Video]
Skype blames Windows app bug for supernode outage
Thermaltake unveils Max 5G external HDD enclosure
First Intel Sandy Bridge notebook is from Santech
Livio Radio system brings internet radio into the car
Ford MyKey feature upgraded to block explicit satellite radio content
LG and Samsung iPad screen shipment numbers are big
Netflix eyes international push in 2011
More details on PlayStation App for Android and iPhone revealed
SBN Tech Android videophone is more like a tablet
Nokia Android Honeycomb tablet is latest odd OS rumor
Moshi Reflection clock lands as a Brookstone exclusive
Fatheadz Eyewear is perfect for people with cranius enormous
Colorful offers special edition NVIDIA GTX460 dubbed iGame460 Commemorative Edition
Tiny Sony Ericsson XPERIA leaks with 1GHz processor punch
PSP2 renders stoke next-gen Sony gaming rumor fire
MSI WindPad U100W Win7 tablet gets video preview: underwhelms
DIY Nintendo Wii laptop scraps DVD drive for ripped game library [Video]
McAfee: Apple, Google TV, Facebook and iPads all key 2011 cybercrime targets
Paul Allen patent suit refiled: App Store, iTunes, Gmail & more all cited
France wants tablet-tax for iPad and Android slates while Windows exempt
NOOK design theft suit with Spring Design to continue
LG LW6500 promises flicker-free CINEMA 3D TV video
Nintendo 3DS Might Ruin Kid’s Eyeballs, if They’re Six Years Old or Younger

To see more wrap-up posts, follow the following tags: [The Daily Slash] or [SlashGear Morning Wrap-up]

Google’s supposed infringements are even more comprehensive, with Allen suggesting that Google search, Gmail, Google Finance, Google Videos, Google Maps, Orkut, Google Books and the Adsense system all fall foul. In the previous version of the filing, Allen and his team had not sufficiently specified which technology was being contested, Apple and Google had argued, and the judge gave until December 28 2010 for a revised suit to be filed.

R3 Media Network

Editor’s Choice
90′s AOL discs cost AOL about $35 per subscriber [WELL PLAYED, AOL]
iPad 2 case video claims iPod touch profile for 2nd-gen slate [CAMERAS!]
iPod nano hack removes apps; Jailbreak work-in-progress [Video] [CUTE HACKS]
First X-Ray Image of Lightning Captured [WHOA]

SlashPhone
Bada 1.2 for Samsung Wave S8500 Coming Early Next Year
New HTC 4G Smartphone Dated on January 6th
US Android Users Can Buy Android Apps with Carrier Billing
Galaxy Tab Firmware Will Come With Protected Bootloader

Android Community
Huawei IDEOS X5 Tech Specs Revealed
Cellbots app updated: video streaming, voice control, more [Video]
AppsFire Adds Video Previews for Applications, Coming to Android Market Soon?
New Android Music App leaks [Video]
Asus Eee Pad pics surface ahead of CES
Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 and LG Optimus Pad coming at CES 2011?
Samsung Galaxy S2 confirmed for MWC 2011 claim reports
Sony PlayStation phone coming in spring 2011 according to Japanese paper
Toshiba Folio 100 firmware addresses lag, multitouch, more
Cowon’s Android D3 Plenue PMP packs T-DMB and HDMI
Dungeon Defenders, the First Unreal Engine Based Game, Available Now
Motorola Cliq 2 for T-Mobile Images Leak
HTC EVO Shift 4G Releasing January 9th for $150, According to RadioShack
HTC Thunderbolt on Verizon TWELVE PHOTOS
ADW Launcher EX Released: Silky Smooth
HTC Desire HD gets FCC approval, North American 3G Radios Inside
Android Market Statistics Released from AndroLib
Original HTC Desire Update 2.29.405.5 Rolling Out Now
Angry Birds Creator Talks Android Fragmentation and Strategy
Dell Streak 7 and Motorola Cliq 2 Rumored for January 19th Launch
How To Force Your Android Device to Check for System Update
CyanogenMod 7 Alpha hits the myTouch4G
Samsung Galaxy S Devices in the US Listed as Having Android 2.2 on Samsung’s Product Page [Update]

SlashGear
Sony dismiss iPad-rival color Reader tablet plans
Alphaline Entertainment movie & TV download store launches
HP scoops $2.5bn NASA computing contract
Android music player update leaks but streaming still absent [Video]
Ring Socket concept makes timed charging easy
Amazon patents auto gift exchanges for online shopping
90′s AOL discs cost AOL about $35 per subscriber
Sonic the Hedgehog inductive Wii Remote charger from Mad Catz
Quirky Digits turn any gloves into iPhone working wonders
Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 and LG Optimus Pad inbound at CES according to report
Samsung Galaxy S successor due at MWC 2011
iGo to unveil new gear at CES 2011
PhoneGuard blocks texting when a phone is traveling faster than 10mph
iPad 2 to have separate AT&T and Verizon versions not single multimode?
AT&T beefs up WiFi coverage in NYC for Times Square festivities
Sony PlayStation Phone coming in spring 2011?
App Developers and Apple get sued over user tracking
Panasonic AG-AF100 micro-4/3 camcorder on sale now
Power Support unveils new screen films and coating for Clear Air Jacket
Trojan Condoms to participate in 2011 CES show
Sprint WiMAX 4G turns on in San Francisco
Nokia E7 gets Amazon listing with no delivery date in sight
ASUS G53SW, G73SW, N53SV and N73SV Intel Sandy Bridge notebooks revealed
RIM doubted original iPhone was possible claims ex-insider
iPad 2 case video claims iPod touch profile for 2nd-gen slate
ASUS slashing netbook prices as tablets take market; MSI dropping out completely?
iPod nano hack removes apps; Jailbreak work-in-progress [Video]
Cowon D3 Plenue Android PMP gets official
ASUS Eee Pads get pre-CES 2011 photo tease
Samsung Ready to Unveil World’s Thinnest 3D Blu-ray Player
Cellbots Android app wants to be your robot’s brain [Video]
Hydroleaf Shelter Collects and Purifies Water, Acts as Bus Stop
Samsung Announces WB700 Ultra-Slim Camera with 18x Optical Zoom and 16MP CCD Sensor
Call of Duty: Black Ops was Reportedly the Most Pirated Game in 2010
Solemates Superyacht Lets Passengers and Crew Control Some Features with iPads
Samsung Announces NX11 with i-Function Lens
Windows Phone 7 Marketplace Now Has 5,000 Applications and Games
New Super Mario Bros Sells Six Million Copies for DS
HTC Thunderbolt for Verizon Shown Off in Pictures
Engkey Egg-Shaped Robot Teaches South Korean Students English
First X-Ray Image of Lightning Captured
Researchers at University of Glasgow Create 1,000-Core Processor
Nintendo Adds 32 3DS Titles for Nintendo World 2011
LG Xnote P210 Notebook Unveiled
Gresso iPad Features 200-Year-Old Wood and 18K Gold Apple Logo, Goes on Sale New Year’s Eve
BlackBerry PlayBook Could be Delayed Due to Battery Issues
TENQ P07 Ubuntu tablet spotted in wild
Olympus PEN E-PL2 leaks: new lens kit & PENPAL Bluetooth dongle
Sprint Palm Pixi gains mysterious front-facing camera
SkyWire iPhone serial cable allows remote telescope control

To see more Daily Slash posts, click here: [The Daily Slash] or here: [SlashGear Morning Wrap-Up]

One person wondered the same thing and posted the question on question and answer site Quora recently. Apparently, the CEO of AOL at the time you couldn’t escape from the discs, Steve Case, saw the question and decided to answer it. The answer in short was “a lot.”

According to Case AOL had decided that it could spend 10% of its lifetime revenue per customer on landing that customer. He also said that the lifetime revenue was $350 so each of those CDs cost AOL about $35. I guess the plan worked out OK for them at the time. AOL went from 200,000 users when the company made its IPO to 25 million in a decade with a market cap of $150 billion.

Via TechCrunch

The rumors echo plans back in 2009 to sell off the dial-up business to either EarthLink or United Online, but it’s unclear whether either is now in a position to pick up the tab. AOL still has 4m dial-up customers, who together add around $1bn of revenue to analysts’ $2.4bn 2010 estimates for the company. They’re also a significant source of traffic to the AOL homepage.

Still, the numbers are shrinking, and analysts agree that AOL needs to take steps if they’re not to stagnate and then decline. A Yahoo! deal could pair the site’s popular sports, finance, general news and email services with AOL’s strengths in maps and entertainment news.

It has a large high-res LCD screen on the phone as well as a full keypad which can be used to type your messages. No longer will you have to choose between sitting at the computer all day and using the precious capacity of your mobile’s data plan, you can now go outside and enjoy the weather and not miss the message from your friend you are waiting on.

The phone is ENERGY STAR rated, RoHS compliant, and comes with 100% recyclable packaging. It has caller ID, call waiting, recordable ring tones, voicemail indicator, a 50 name/number programmable phonebook/directory, and works with your choice of headsets. This amazing home phone is a mere $99.95 and can be bought online or at Best Buy.

[via VTech]

So, lets say Yahoo does merge with AOL, not only is that far less of a threat that a Yahoo/MS merger, but Google might even pull out of AOL if that happens, or not. Either way it means that Google will likely profit even more from this whole mess.

Yahoo should have accepted Microsoft’s offer, the two might have been able to form some sort of competitor for Google, at least to some extent, where as on their own, or even with AOL and Yahoo merged, not MS, not Yahoo, not AOL, not anyone can compete with Google. Personally I am perfectly OK with that as Google is doing an amazing job at what they do and without it I might die, but from the business side of things Yahoo may have shot themselves in the foot.

[via TechDirt]

But it offers up a unique feature, wireless downloads from the Rhapsody-to-go music service and from AOL’s video service via WiFi. It also has an FM transmitter just like the Zune.

It supports USB 2.0 and Bluetooth 2.0 (finally) and has support for a bunch of video formats too, including MPEG-4, WMV, M4V, AVI, H.264, MPG, and audio formats including MP3, WMA, WAV, and AAC. You can get it in a 30GB HDD version or 4 and 8 gigabyte flash sizes. Those are priced at $319.95, $229, and $249.99 respectively, which means they think they are better than both the Zune and the iPod and worth it.

Haier AOL Reappears as Ibiza Rhapsody PMP [via PMPToaday]

On to better news, they have decided to give both the Slide and the new LX a “Consumer E-Mail Upgrade” basically it makes it easier to set up and use your public email accounts from companies such as Yahoo! and AOL. Specifically for those two companies, they also support their PUSH email systems.

You’ll also be able to setup other POP and IMAP accounts as you wish, and as always, access to your T-Mail account will be built in too. The new mail client will work a lot like MySpace on the Sidekick with tabs across the top for each account. The upgrade will come in OTA and will start rolling out today, with everyone getting it by November.

There is a miniSD card slot that you can store music on too, which in turn can be played through the integrated MyTunes media player, or you can stream them from the Internet. Obviously this beast connects via wifi, so speed should be good.

There is also a photo viewer built in. it will retail next month for $149.99. In case you were wondering, you can have more than one conversation at a time.

Zipit reveals Z2 Wireless Messenger for IM addicts [via engadget]

As the Washington Post’s Brian Krebs explains:

“Let’s take a fictional AOL user named Bob Jones, who signs up with AOL using the user name BobJones. Bob — thinking himself very clever — sets his password to be BobJones$4e?0. Now, if Bob’s co-worker Alice or arch nemesis Charlie tries to guess his password, probably the first password he or she will try is Bob’s user name, since people are lazy and often use their user name as their password”

There’s some discussion about this being a possible hangover from a 60s enterprise version of Unix, but AOL themselves will say nothing more than that they’re “looking into it”.

Washington Post [via Slashdot]

Under the hood, Netscape Browser 9.0 is Firefox codebase with some extensions to accommodate its integration to Netscape.com. The 9.0 is developed by AOL’s own development team unlike the previous version which was outsourced to Mercurial Communications.

AOL Preparing Netscape Browser 9.0 [via betanews]