Vine adds video import to snag brands

Hoping to lure brands onto its platform, the social app Vine has added an import feature to its service that should make it easier for users to create videos.

Until now, users have had to create the six-second videos shared on Vine using the camera on their smartphones. That has required users to be creative about the clips they make, but it has also made it difficult for marketers to post the kind of high-quality videos they run on TV or post on YouTube.

The new import feature makes it possible for users to shoot using professional-grade cameras, edit with high-end software, save the videos onto their smartphones then upload them into the Twitter-owned mobile app.

Importing will benefit all Vine users, but more importantly, it will attract more brands onto the expanding social network, said Jonathan Skogmo, chief of Jukin Media, a company that buys the rights to viral Vine videos. Skogmo said this appears to be Twitter’s first step toward monetizing Vine.

Vine says its videos are now watched by more than 100 million users across the Internet, but Vine does not yet generate any revenue for Twitter, which acquired the app before it launched in January 2013. Rival Instagram generates revenue by showing brands’ advertisements to users.

Vine may be hoping to do the same, but first, it needs more companies to use its service. According to a May report by Social Media Examiner that surveyed more than 2,800 marketers, only 9 percent said they used Vine compared with 28 percent who use Instagram and 83 percent who use Twitter.

— Los Angeles Times

Apple opens Yosemite to user testing

CUPERTINO, Calif. — Breaking with its notorious code of secrecy, Apple is letting users test-drive its new operating system for the Mac before it is officially launched later this fall.

For the first time, the Cupertino, Calif.-based company earlier this month unveiled a free beta version of its coming OS X Yosemite software to the general public late last month along with a parallel version for developers that was updated last Monday, setting the Apple blogosphere afire.

Users often get to test new services from Google before they are finalized, but it’s a rare perk from Apple, which typically limits its beta releases to registered developers. By giving the public an early look at Yosemite, Apple is showing a greater appreciation for beta testing, said Carolina Milanesi, chief of research and head of U.S. business at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, a consumer research firm.

With beta testing, companies can deploy users to spot kinks in software before it debuts. After the troubled 2012 launch of Apple Maps, which set off a deluge of user complaints and forced an apology from CEO Tim Cook, Apple may be trying to avoid another “gotcha” moment, said analyst Van Baker with Gartner Research.

Apple last released a beta version of its software to the public in 2000, and users had to pay for it. The Yosemite beta program is open to the first million people who sign up, though users must consent to a nondisclosure agreement.

The public beta program will also provide valuable feedback to the developer community, which Apple needs to keep happy as Google’s Android operating system gains ground, Milanesi said.

Among other new features, the OS X Yosemite for Macs will allow users to begin a task on one Apple device and finish it on another, Apple has said. The iOS 8 system for iPhones and iPads will give developers new tools to create health and fitness apps.

— San Jose Mercury News

Barnes & Noble unveils new Nook tablet

After nearly two years without releasing a new tablet, Barnes & Noble on Wednesday unveiled the $179 Galaxy Tab 4 Nook, a tablet co-branded with Samsung.

The new Nook is essentially a clone of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 4, both featuring 7-inch touch screens as well as front- and back-facing cameras. The major difference is the Nook sells content through Barnes & Noble’s digital store, instead of Google Play as most Android devices do. The Galaxy Tab 4 Nook is on sale now online and at Barnes & Noble stores.

Barnes & Noble began selling Nook tablets in late 2012 to keep up with its online rival Amazon.com. But its efforts quickly foundered, and by last summer Barnes & Noble announced it would no longer make Nook tablets on its own because of how much money they were losing. Now, Barnes & Noble is hoping the Galaxy Tab 4 Nook can compete against Amazon’s line of Kindle Fire tablets.

But Barnes & Noble’s rivalry with Amazon extends beyond e-books. This summer, Barnes & Noble partnered with Google to offer same-day deliveries in select markets on physical books purchased online — a service that was already offered by Amazon.

— Los Angeles Times