Beginning today, Sports Illustrated "All Access" includes new magazine apps for the Samsung Galaxy and Android smartphones (OS 2.1 and higher); web access to the issue (after log in). The plans are:

*Print/Digital (Samsung Galaxy/Android Smartphone/Web): $48 annually or $4.99/month

*Digital Only: $3.99/month

*Current print subscribers have free access to the digital package throughout the remainder of their subscription

 In the last eight months SI has introduced a new magazine iPad app, SI Snapshot (developed in HTML5) for Google Chrome and a new SI Facebook Fantasy Football game.

"We view every new technology as an opportunity to provide our long-time subscribers with digital access to the magazine and at the same time attract new readers," said Terry McDonell, Time Inc. Sports Group Editor.

"Our editors and designers have stepped up to customize the best-possible version of SI for various platforms and technologies."

Being named as TIME Person of the Year is a real honor and recognition of how our little team is building something that hundreds of millions of people want to use to make the world more open and connected. I’m happy to be a part of that.

Original Article: Time has named Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg its person of the year. "For connecting more than half a billion people and mapping the social relations among them; for creating a new system of exchanging information; and for changing how we all live our lives, Mark Elliot Zuckerberg is TIME’s 2010 Person of the Year," the publication proclaims. 

It’s very interesting to see Zuckerberg get this high honor, as much of Facebook’s press over the year has been less than positive. Much of this has been about privacy concerns, but the company has, in all fairness, addressed these repeatedly.

There’s no question, however that Facebook has indeed made a huge impact on the web and culture in general in 2010 – more so than in years past. The big open graph announcement and social plug-ins have been huge in shaping the current state of the web as well as the future state. Facebook’s just getting started.

The company looks to become a central hub for messaging, and will continue to expand into payments. Facebook wants to be the centrul hub for you – your identity, and so far, it’s doing a pretty good job of progressing towards that goal. How many of you have your phone contacts synced to your friends’ Facebook profiles. Of those same friends, how many of them do you know their actual phone numbers?

Then there was The Social Network, the critically acclaimed film destined for numerous awards that paint a complicated picture of Zuckerberg, which the man considers fictitious, but whom audiences have embraced. 

2010 has also been a big year for Zuckerberg and charity. Not only did Zuckerberg announce the donation of $100 million to public schools, but just this month he pledged the majority of his wealth to charity. The company has also been sending out Christmas cards with gift cards for donating to the eduacation-related charity of the recipient’s choice. 

Time has ten pages worth of explanation of why they gave him person of the year. According to CNN, Time’s readers chose Wikileaks’ Julian Assange. 

Do you think Zuckerberg should be person of the year? If not, then who? Comment here.

After accounting for potential cannibalization of some print subscriptions, the industry could realize $1.3 billion in incremental revenue, the consortium says.

The study dealt with about 230 periodical titles and surveyed 1,800 consumers in the U.S. It looked at "likely formats and features of emerging interactive periodicals" and did not take into account advertising, commerce or single copy sales. In other words, we’re talking subscriptions only.

"The landscape for digitally distributing magazines and newspapers is about to rapidly change," said Martin Kon, partner and head of the global media and entertainment practice at Oliver Wyman, which conducted the study for Next Issue. "Our Future Marketplace Simulation shows significant consumer enthusiasm for interactive periodicals that offer enhanced features, personalization, multimedia content and optimized layout and navigation."

Next Issue lists the following as "key findings that underpin the revenue projections" in the study:

1. Among device-owning subscribers, the availability of interactive editions at the point of renewal, at the same price as today’s print editions, drives a 9 point increase in the overall subscription renewal rate, from today’s 55% industry average to 64%.

3. The interactive format enables effective cross-selling via recommendation engines and browsing features; 17% of current subscribers make additional purchases.
 
4. Automatic renewals eliminate the traditional "bill-me later" model and greatly reduce churn, from an average of 45% today to 25%.
 
5. The introduction of interactive editions in an online store setting, at the same price as today’s print editions, triples uptake rates among device-owning non-subscribers, from 5% to 15%.

The findings can be perused in a white paper available here (pdf).

Gawker’s Valleywag has posted numerous paparazzi-style photos of Mark Zuckerberg, after photographer Nick Stern followed him around. The piece is framed as a way of "turning the tables" on him after he "turned strangers’ intimate moments into riches."

Redmond Pie points to an update to the recent activity section of Zuckerberg’s Facebook profile which indicates he is now an Android user. He had previously mentioned possibly switching to Android after making complaints about the iPhone. This may not mean anything, but it is interesting to know what kind of device the leader of one of the most important sites on the web is using. It could shape some of his thinking.

Mashable looks at a new browser plug-in called Google Alarm that alerts you when your personal information is sent to Google’s servers. It works for Firefox and Chrome. With Apple releasing its extensions gallery for Safari today, it would not be surprising to see it end up there as well.

Last week, Apple announced a delay to the release of the white version of the iphone 4. The Street has an interesting article suggesting that a "light leak" may be the cause of the delay. Gizmodo notes that this is unconfirmed.

CrunchGear has a review of the new Dell Slate, an Android "tablet". Reviewer John Biggs calls it "too big to be a phone and a bit too small to be a tablet." Speed is noted as the biggest draw. He says it’s one of the fastest tablets he’s seen. The size is questionable, however.

News came out yesterday that Yahoo Japan would be going with Google instead of Bing as its provider of search results. eWeek looks at Microsoft’s beef with the deal, and Google’s response. Basically, Microsoft has called it anti-competitive, and Google has said it isn’t. Google maintains that it will only license Yahoo Japan ad technology, rather than supplying ads.

Peter Kafka at MediaMemo says Time’s iPad problem is trouble for every magazine publisher. The problem he refers to is the publisher’s inability to get Apple to let it sell and manage subscriptions for its apps.

StyleFeeder will become part of Time’s InStyle family of brands and its ecommerce technology will power shopping on InStyle.com. Financial details of the acquisition were not released.

"Our focus has been on investing in and growing our core brands," said Ann Moore, Chairman and CEO of Time Inc.

"InStyle has proven itself as a product powerhouse with InStyle Makeover, InStyle Hair, a series of style books and 17 international editions.   Adding StyleFeeder will bring personalized shopping into the mix and new opportunities for the group."

StyleFeeder gathers content from a catalog of over 14 million products from thousands of retail partners across the web. Along with getting personalized recommendations, users can track their favorite items, rate and share products and connect with other shoppers.  StyleFeeder’s browsing interface allows users to filter results by price, brand, product features and color.

"This is a strategic step in building on our digital success," said Fran Hauser, President of Digital for Time Inc.’s Style & Entertainment Group. 

"Our brands reach millions of consumers through our websites, social media and mobile products.  StyleFeeder’s e-commerce technology will open the door to new transactional revenue streams and give the InStyle community an experience they can’t find anywhere else online."

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These companies released a joint announcement today saying that they have entered into an independent venture to develop open standards for a new digital storefront and related technology that will "allow consumers to enjoy their favorite media content on portable digital devices."

The idea is that publishers can boost online revenue in a similar fashion to what the companies behind Hulu are doing with online television The publishers say the goal is to create a highly featured common reading application capable of rendering the distinctive look and feel of each publication, a publishing platform optimized for multiple devices, operating systems and screen sizes, a consumer storefront with an extensive selection of publications, and a rich array of advertising opportunities.

The selection of publications will not be limited to just those from the companies involved. They are saying that the venture will welcome other publishers to offer their content as well. Publishers will get their revenue from content and advertising sales, as well as print subscriptions.

"For the consumer, this digital initiative will provide access to an extraordinary selection of engaging content products, all customized for easy download on the device of their choice, including smartphones, e-readers and laptops," explained John Squires, the venture’s interim managing director. "Once purchased, this content will be ‘unlocked’ for consumers to enjoy anywhere, anytime, on any platform."

The storefront will of course offer magazine and newspaper publications, but will also include books, comic books, blogs, and other media. The venture does not yet have a name. It will be interesting to see what they come up with and if consumers jump on board with the model.

Is this a step in the right direction for publishers? Tell us what you think.

Related Articles:

> Google Changes How it Handles Paid Content

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> Google Okay With Blocking News Corp.

> Is it Really Crazy to Block Google?

Well, $50 million didn’t happen. Brüno finished the weekend with a respectable $30.4 million. But, $20 million is a pretty big gap… what caused such an erroneous projection? Well, TIME thinks Twitter is to blame.

Did Twitter cost Brüno millions? Tell us what you think.

"Brüno’s box-office decline from Friday to Saturday indicates that the film’s brand of outrage was not the sort to please most moviegoers — and that their tut-tutting got around fast. Brüno could be the first movie defeated by the Twitter effect."

With techsavvy moviegoers tweeting their opinions to literally millions of followers, the micro-blogging site can make or break a film in one day.

Days after the movie was released, Brüno is still a trending topic on Twitter. Users can’t seem to stop tweeting about the film. Sure, some of the tweets are positive saying how funny the film is… while others are incredibly harsh and could have contributed to the Twitter effect that was mentioned above…

It’s hard to say if Twitter cost Brüno millions at the box office. The film had already been under fire from The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) so it’s unclear how much impact Twitter actually had.

But, in any case this is a new trend we’re sure to keep an eye on.

Do you think Twitter can have a negative impact on the box office? Tell us.

The referenced article is actually about the announcement of Time Inc.’s own ad network that will leverage the 26 properties that they have which includes some big names like People, Time (duh!) and Sports Illustrated. The network, called Time Axcess, offers advertisers access (get it?) to about 27 million unique visitors per month.

Admittedly I was a little surprised that this was even news because I would have assumed that a media giant like Time would have done this a while back. Apparently though they are a little bit behind the curve with competitors like Martha Stewart, Living Omnimedia and Conde Nast already in the game. Difference being with those groups is that they use outside partners to accomplish what Time is doing in house.

As one would suspect it is anticipated that advertisers will be receptive to this offering. Media buyers are excited.

“First off, I know who Time Inc. has,” said Michael Hayes, exec VP-managing director at Initiative Digital. “Even if I don’t know the exact placement of the inventory, when I go to talk to Dr Pepper or Ikea or Bayer, that creates comfort for them. When I tell them it’s running on an ad network and it’s blind, they get incredibly uncomfortable, and rightly so.”

Time is excited for the fact they are not paying a middleman to move their inventory now.

Kirk McDonald, president of Time Inc. Digital said, “Ad networks buy inventory today from companies like us at pennies on the dollar,” he said. “We’re going to take the same impressions that today we’re getting pennies on the dollar for, and get dollars for those.”

While it is exciting for Time to have this opportunity it also may be a case of being patient and giving actual time for it to develop. This network comes online when advertising is taking a hit of historic proportions so it may be a while before they know just how good this will be for them.

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PubCenter is to be built on the existing adCenter Publisher architecture, and will include "the convergence of technologies and tools provided by the former Atlas and Rapt solutions, as well as a self-serve offering. Microsoft says the new platform will provide innovative forecasting and order management solutions, advanced analytics tools, and enhanced targeting functionality to enable all digital media publishers to have access to the tools and technology they need to provide valuable and relevant ad content to their advertising partners."

The Publisher Leadership Council includes members from IAC, Dow Jones Online, The New York Times, Time, and Viacom. The group will have a hand in determining the product’s design and features.

"Digital media publishers have diverse needs and face many challenges,” said Scott Howe, corporate vice president of the Advertiser & Publisher Solutions Group at Microsoft. "This initiative is validation of our commitment to partnering with the industry to meet those challenges together. Some key features of PubCenter are still on the whiteboard, and we’re giving our partners a pen."

Publishers welcome the opportunity to play a role in the creative process. "As an industry, we’re forced to rely on many disjointed tools and systems, and the quality of the data we receive can suffer as a result,” said Nada Stirratt, executive vice president of Digital Advertising at Viacom’s MTV-Networks.

"Data is critical to managing, measuring and meeting the needs of our advertisers and audience, and enhancing the overall value we deliver," added Stirratt. "By collaborating with Microsoft, we’re in a strong position to help address these needs and, together, chart the industry’s future."

Predictions have been made about a potentially big year for Microsoft on the search front. The company’s advertising efforts might be attracting some attention as well.

To install it right now, go to this Microsoft.com download page and download the file offered. Save that file to your computer (don’t just try to open it) and right-click on the file and click “Run as Administrator”. After running through the file, SP1 will install automatically through Automatic Updates over the next few days.

If you don’t want to wait, or if your computer doesn’t install updates automatically, go to Windows Update and check for new updates, and then install them. After two or three updates, which prepare your computer for SP1 and help make sure the update does not fail, you will be offered Service Pack 1. Install it.

Make sure you have a good amount of free space to install it. I saw at least a gigabyte of previously free space dissapear after installing SP1, and I’d recommend having at least 3 or 4 gigs free before even attempting it. If you run into problems, check if the BITS service is running.

After installing SP1, everything seems fine. One difference I noted: A bug that caused my PC to crash and die after random uses of the scroll area on my trackpad appears to be gone. As previous articles have indicated, the No GUI Boot screen has changed, and the new version looks nice. Windows Sidebar appears to be using far less resources when not on screen. In Task Manager, there are two Task Scheduler Engines, one for the user and one for the system, though that may not be new.

You should also install Microsoft Office Service Pack 1, available now in Microsoft Update, or through the links on this page. Also, you can get Windows XP Service Pack 3 from Microsoft by following this link.

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