snapshot 10/20/07

Best Buy teams with Mydeo on video service
Electronics retailer Best Buy Co launched an online service in partnership with video hosting site Mydeo on Tuesday, through which its customers can store and share home movies and videos via the Internet.

The move was spurred by a rising demand for video services that offer privacy and ad-free sharing, particularly among families with children, said Best Buy Vice President Kevin Winneroski. "Through Best Buy Video Sharing, customers can safely store their videos and share them only with the friends and family they choose," Winneroski said in a statement.


Zazzle to follow Snocap to MySpace glory
Selling music on MySpace worked out so well for the now-downsized Snocap. Now, Zazzle.com is giving it a go, helping sell music merchandise through MySpace. According to reports, Zazzle and MySpace reached an agreement to allow MySpace bands to sell customized T-shirts for $15 to $20. Some day, MySpace might open a platform for third-party developers and let them make money independently as promised, but not today.


Hear Music Signs Hilary McRae
Hear Music, the label started by Concord Music Group and Starbucks, has signed Hilary McRae as the company's first developing artist. While the full album will not be available until spring 2008, Starbucks customers will be able to download McRae's song "Consider Me Gone" on November 1 as part of Starbucks' "Download of the Day" program.


Who’s Bucks: The Who Launch For-Fee Subscription Site
Gearing up for what they no doubt hope will be both a lucrative holiday season and a bank account-enhancing 2008, the Who have their Amazing Journey: The Story of the Who (Universal) DVD issued on November 6, while a day earlier, Nov. 5, they launch TheWho.com, a for-fee subscription site.

For $50 a year, you can become a “Wholigan” and be privy to all sorts of goodies — term used in the relative sense — that the unwashed masses won’t be able to view, listen to, talk about with other fans, and otherwise (cough) decide whether or not they want to pay even more money for. (e.g., tickets to concerts: the band has already been doing this with folks who signed up at TheWhoTour.com—which includes a “community” section of fan message boards—but that site is currently not taking any more registrations).


Big retailers launch HD DVD price war
A pre-holiday retail skirmish in high-definition DVD players has begun. Just days after Wal-Mart (WMT) slashed its in-store price on the Toshiba HD-A2 to $198, Circuit City (CC) and Amazon (AMZN) followed suit by offering the player online for $197.99.
Consumers seem eager to buy the HD-A2, which had been selling on Amazon for $230 and as much as $280 elsewhere. The Toshiba player, which had been one of several top-selling DVD players on Amazon before the price cut, has quickly become the favorite: On Monday morning it was the 24th most-purchased electronics item on Amazon’s site. The next closest DVD player ranked 46.


Can Google-Powered Phones Connect With Carriers? (requires subscription)
Google Inc. is close to unveiling its long-planned strategy to shake up the wireless market, people familiar with the matter say. The Web giant's ambitious goal: to make applications and services as accessible on cellphones as they are on the Internet.

In a move likely to kick off an intense debate about the future shape of the cellphone industry, Google wants to make it easier for cellphone customers to get a variety of extra services on their phones -- from maps to social-networking features to video-sharing. To get its way, however, the search giant will have to overcome resistance from wireless carriers and deal with potentially thorny security and privacy issues.