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Netflix talks to expand into China may hit cultural roadblocks

May15

by Sindy Cator on May 15, 2015 at 7:45 pm

Netflix wants viewers in China to enjoy the same streaming TV shows and movies as its customers in the US. As part of a push into that humongous market as well as an overall goal to go global by 2016 — as subscription rates decrease in the US — the company has entered into negotiations with online Chinese broadcasters BesTV and Wasu Media Holding Co., which backed by a group that includes Alibaba Group Holding. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, talks are still in the early stages, but sticking points have already emerged, as cultural differences between…

This story continues at The Next Web

└ Tags: media, syndicated

Why tokenization is the key to mobile payment security

May15

by Sindy Cator on May 15, 2015 at 5:07 pm

Posted In: Around the Web, Insider, mobile payments

Mobile payments can be a finicky business. Consumers are presented with a broad range of payment options and channels – from Apple Pay to Google Wallet to Visa Checkout – all vying for majority adoption. The industry’s brightest minds and deepest pockets are at work to create better commerce experiences, including Samsung, Wal-mart, Google, PayPal and scores of startups in the fintech space. In fact, during the first three quarters of 2014, global payments and transaction startups raised a combined $1.18 billion through 75 funding deals. Plus, more and more banks have launched plans to build mobile payments directly into…

This story continues at The Next Web

└ Tags: syndicated

No, Spotify isn’t removing its free tier in favor of a 3-month trial

May15

by Sindy Cator on May 15, 2015 at 2:58 pm

Posted In: Around the Web, Insider

You might have heard that Spotify has plans to remove its free music streaming option for users as a result of pressure from record labels. You might have heard that, but it’s not true. According to a concise comment from a company spokesperson: “It’s totally false. The model is working.” So there you have it, there’s no need to fear the end of your free streaming plan. Of course, when Warner Music Group’s chief Stephen Cooper warns against removing free streaming, that should be a strong sign that reports that labels can’t make money from the platform aren’t as straightforward as…

This story continues at The Next Web

└ Tags: news, syndicated

Revived ‘Grooveshark’ domain seized, new lawsuit filed

May15

by Sindy Cator on May 15, 2015 at 2:17 pm

Posted In: Around the Web, Insider

Grooveshark is dead. Grooveshark is alive again. Those are stories you might be hearing for a while. If you haven’t been keeping up, the original Grooveshark closed down after heavy pressure from the record labels that owned the music it was sharing without a license. Grooveshark apologized, and was ordered to pay a fine of $50 million. Then just a week after that, the service was revived unofficially. A small team took to keeping the Grooveshark name alive, after having allegedly backed up 90 percent of the content on the site. It didn’t take long for the labels to fight…

This story continues at The Next Web

└ Tags: syndicated

7 most common data visualization mistakes

May15

by Sindy Cator on May 15, 2015 at 1:58 pm

Posted In: Around the Web, Data Visualization, Design & Dev

In my last article, I mentioned some of the best tools for data visualization. While all of them were powerful tools, they are only as useful as the hands they are in. Selection of the right tool is just the first step, the bigger job is to create an easy-to-understand visualization that makes data interesting and unambiguous. In dataviz, as in any other field, there are rules, best practices, guidelines and then there is common sense. And contrary to what we might believe, common sense gets ignored quite often, as we’ll see in the examples below. Let’s get started with…