With the final instalment of the Harry Potter series of movies now in theatres, author JK Rowling has announced that she will finally be allowing the seven book series to be translated and sold as eBooks through an exclusive online site.</p> <p>The site, which is called Pottermore (pottermore.com) is not yet up, but is expected to be launched soon. By restricting the sale of her eBooks to the site, Rowlings has effectively bypassed popular eBook retailers such as Amazon.com, who sell books for their popular Kindle eReader. However, not everyone has been bypassed. The eBooks on the Pottermore site will be published in open Google eBook format; a format easily accessible through 80 different types of eReaders, as well as through all of the major PC browsers and various smartphone applications.</p> <p>Google?s publishing partners are not known for sharing revenues with the company and the terms of the relationship that includes Pottermore have not been disclosed. Nevertheless, we do know that Google intends to provide storage for the Harry Potter eBooks in the cloud, along with other titles purchased through Google Books.</p> <p>Google will also benefit from the relationship through their checkout feature; as the Pottermore site will include Google Checkout as part of their payment options.</p> <p>When asked about her decision to bypass other retailers, representatives for JK Rowling replied that she wanted to make the eBooks as widely available as possible.</p> <p>To see JK Rowling?s announcement regarding Pottermore, you can visit YouTube. It is expected that Pottermore will also use YouTube for future global video broadcasts.

According to a recent consumer survey conducted by Foresee, Facebook is suffering from a case of ?unlike?, receiving the lowest customer satisfaction rating of the social networks included in the report.</p> <p>The report, which was issued by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), is based upon scores from 70,000 yearly customer evaluations that are then placed into an economics model. For 2011, Facebook scored 66, which is actually an increase of three per cent. However, it still ranked at the bottom of the social media category.</p> <p>According to ACSI, the social media category as a whole presented some of the lowest scores, beaten only by newspapers, airlines, and subscription television. In the category, Wikipedia scored highest, with a score of 78, while YouTube came in second with a score of 74. Both of these scores are increases over the 2010 numbers.</p> <p>At the time of the survey, Google Plus had yet to be released and therefore, their influence is not represented in the report. Foresee President of Results, Larry Freed said in a statement:</p> <p>"We don't know yet how Google+ will fare, but what we do know is that Google is one of the highest-scoring companies in the ACSI and Facebook is one of the lowest. An existing dominance of market share like Facebook has is no longer a safety net for a company that is not providing a superior customer experience."</p> <p>Search provider results show Google at the top, followed by Bing, ?others? and then Ask.com and Yahoo!

Last Friday, reports had Google+, the search giant?s response to Facebook, at ten million users after just two weeks of limited invitation only activity. While robust early adoption figures are not a clear sign of success, reports coming from those early users indicate that there is definitely a place for Google Plus in social and business circles.</p> <p>Pre-adoption thought was that Google Plus had the potential to be a Facebook killer. Shortly after trials opened, the idea was that the service was more a threat to Twitter. Two weeks on however, the prevalent thought is that Google+ will replace neither, but fill the gaps that lay in-between.</p> <p>For serious social media users the news is somewhat of a mixed bag. Using social media properly takes a lot of time; hours can be spent keeping up with what is going on. With the addition of yet another social media outlet, the time necessary to keep up with the extensive flow of information has increased.</p> <p>While it may still be too early to predict if Google Plus will eventually displace other services, it is not too early to say that dismissing, or ignoring G+ is a bad move. Yes, it is still a possibility that this will be yet another failure on Google?s part ? all of this high-interest may wane and G+ may leave our vocabulary as fast as it arrived. However, if these early indications are correct, that is highly unlikely. If I were a betting person, this time, my money would be on Google.<br />

Despite the fact that Google has yet to release its new social media platform Google+ to the wider internet audience, the site is quite active in its beta form, with ten million users sharing over one billion items per day (stats according to Google). So far, most are impressed with what they are seeing.</p> <p>However, although it was originally thought that Google+ has potential as a Facebook killer, as the social content site moves forward, it appears that the rivalry is more between Twitter and G+ than Facebook and G+.<br /> Google+ is designed to make content sharing easy. The circle concept allows users to categorise the people they follow and filter through content accordingly. Moreover, content sharing is where Google+ directly rivals Twitter. According to Pete Cashmore, founder and CEO of Mashable:</p> <p>?The most popular activity on Twitter is posting text updates (and occasionally photos and videos). Google+ competes directly here and does a slightly better job of aggregating the responses. At least as it stands now, I'd say Google+ is more worrisome for Twitter than Facebook. Then again, I'd also love to see Google just buy Twitter and bring all this awesome technology to that service - perfect match.?<br /> He goes on to say, ?I don't think Google+ is a direct Facebook rival because the most popular activity on Facebook is viewing photos. I'm not seeing much photo sharing on G+.?</p> <p>Cashmore?s observations are being echoed across the social mediasphere as many of the biggest social content sharers talk of eventually abandoning Twitter for Google+ altogether.<br />

</p> <p>Google +1 is Google?s new social feature that allows users to let others know their favourite content.</p>

Major UK broadband provider British Telecom (BT) has been taken to court by the film industry in an attempt to force them to block content sharing sites based upon peer-to-peer (P2P) sharing.</p> <p>The Motion Picture Association, representing six major movie studios, has taken objection to a site called Newzbin.com, which allows internet users to watch ?pirated? content and want to see it shut down. Upon failing to persuade BT to take action of their own fruition, the Motion Picture Association is now trying to force their hand in court.</p> <p>An injunction was first taken out against BT late last year; however, to date, the broadband provider has continued to show reluctance to take action. The broadband provider has also been outspoken about their opposition of the portions of the Digital Economy Act that call for anti-file sharing measures. However, their protests are most likely in vain, with a recent High Court ruling stating that the Digital Economy Act as it is currently written falls in line with European law. The Court of Appeal has refused to review the High Court?s decision.</p> <p>Should this current filing by the Motion Picture Association against BT go in the Association?s favour, the broadband company may find their hand is forced. A spokesperson for the Motion Picture Association told the Telegraph that BT had been targeted for two reasons: 1) it is the largest UK broadband provider and 2) it has the web blocking tools already in place. The Association hopes that a successful verdict will serve as a message to other UK providers.<br />

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Google+ is the talk of the social networking world; with people like Facebook?s Mark Zuckerberg making the news as he opens his Google+ profile and amasses thousands of friends and followers within a matter of hours. In fact, up until recently, Zuckerberg held the number one spot on the new network; then, suddenly, he disappeared.</p> <p>The same thing happened to several top Google employees; all who had amassed their own high-level following. Missing in action are Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Matt Cutts, and Marissa Mayer ? all high profile users. One day they were on the top users list; the next day, they were not. The only Google employee still showing is Bradley Horowitz, who is currently at number 7 on the top 100 list. So what happened?</p> <p>There are a few theories on why these top users have disappeared; one reason could be that they changed their privacy settings so that the public cannot see friends or followers. Or perhaps there is a new policy being put into place; one that will stop the current race for popularity. Google has yet to provide an official statement regarding the changes, so all we can do is speculate.</p> <p>As the platform is still in trial format, with limited users (although they now number in the millions), whatever the answer, it is probably related to the fact that Google is still tweaking privacy settings. Vic Gundotra, a leader on the Google+ product, has said recently that Google is still very focused on improving privacy; adding features like the ability to keep your gender private as well as letting each user determine whether their friends and followers can be seen by others.<br />

Earlier this year, Heinz became the first FMCG brand to sell product via Facebook; producing limited edition tomato ketchup available only through the social networking site. While the results were not fantastic, they were good enough to encourage the brand to increase their investment in social media.</p> <p>?The Facebook activity seeded a lot of the interest and awareness of the limited edition and increased overall brand perception. We?ll consider replicating that model further down the line,? said brand manager Lucy Clark. Clark went on to say that Heinz is planning to increase its Facebook advertising budget by 20%, as part of an overall social media marketing strategy.</p> <p>For the summer, Facebook has launched a barbecue season campaign. Centring around a Facebook application, the campaign features recipes and weather updates as well as prize drawings and the chance to become a sponsored story.</p> <p>According to Clark, social media has become vital in the brand?s overall marketing strategy; offering a way to overcome the brand?s primary challenge ? how to renew interest in a brand that is already well known and well established.</p> <p>?It?s hard to drive new interest in a brand that?s so well-established, and social media is geared towards invigorating people and driving excitement and engagement through awards and other initiatives - we want to keep that going.?<br /> Heinz launched its first Facebook page in October 2010 as part of its ?Secret Ingredient? campaign. In that endeavour, the brand worked with major supermarkets, including Sainsbury?s, Tesco, Morrison?s, and Asda, using celebrity-fronted video to reinforce the idea of ketchup as an ingredient rather than just a condiment.<br />

It is being touted as one of the most immersive social media events in Major League Baseball history. Tonight, in the USA, the popular Home Run Derby will features many of the participating Baseball sports figures sharing thoughts and content with their fans as the competition is being held. </p> <p>The activity will be on Twitter, the microblogging and content sharing social media website. Baseball fans who participate will be able to see the interchanges not only between participating batters and their fans, but also between the batters themselves ? as they exchange thoughts and good-mannered ?trash talk?, which can be quite entertaining when exchanged in fun.</p> <p>If you want to participate in the Home Run Derby Twitter social media event, get your comments and questions at the ready for your favourite players. The roster includes:</p> <p>David Ortiz (@davidortiz), Heath Bell (@HeathBell21), Gio Gonzalez (@GioGonzalez47), Hunter Pence (@HunterPence9), Brandon Phillips (@DatDudeBP), Gaby Sanchez (@GabySanchez215), Justin Upton (@RealJustinUpton), Major League Baseball?s first Tweeter C.J. Wilson (@str8edgeracer), Howie Kendrick (@HKendrick47) and Joel Hanrahan (@hanrahan4457), Jose Bautista (@JoeyBats19) and Matt Kemp (@theRealMatKemp).</p> <p>For a full list of participants and more information on the event, visit MLB.com.<br /> The Home Run Derby is being held tonight at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona. Viewing time will begin at 8pm Eastern Time. Fans can watch on ESPN or follow the