Facebook has begun letting users pay for Facebook Credits with their mobile phones. The move comes as Facebook begins to develop revenue streams separate from ad revenue. Facebook is also hard at work developing a PayPal like system for making payments online, a trend not lost on Nokia, who is set to begin offering a mobile payment application, which will let users pay bills, wire money and purchase goods from their phones.
After hinting at a device last week, Sirius XM revealed the XM SKyDock, capable of turning all iPhone's and iPod Touch's into satellite radios. The device, which taps into Sirius XM's satellite rather than using Wi-Fi or cellular network like the current satellite radio application, will retail for $120. The satellite dock will also users access to channels the current application does not, including the Howard Stern Channel.
Torrent sharing network Mininova was ordered to delete all links to copyrighted content. A Dutch court has given the service three months to relinquish all illegal files from its network. Some of the most popular recent downloads on Mininova are Inglorious Basterds and Mac's new Snow Leopard operating system.
Sony is set to update its Walkman line with new mp3 players. The new affordable models, which Sony hopes will compete with Apple's signature iPod line, will range in price from $80-$130. While the prices are extremely reasonable, Sony is only offering the device in 8GB and 16GB format, and will have to contend with Apple's dominance over the mobile music device market, a market Sony once cornered.
Apple is working hard to prepare the iPhone for the Chinese Market. The move comes after several competitors have released knock-off iPhones, complete with wireless Internet access and touch-screens. Analysts believe that by tapping into a market nearly three times the size of the United States mobile phone market, Apple could sell 2.9 million iPhones before 2012.
Shelly Palmer is a consultant and the host of MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer a daily show featuring news you can use about technology, media & entertainment. He is Managing Director of Advanced Media Ventures Group LLC and the author of Television Disrupted: The Transition from Network to Networked TV. Shelly is also President of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. You can join the MediaBytes mailing list here. Shelly can be reached at shelly@palmer.net For information about Get Digital Classes, visit www.shellypalmer.com/seminars