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NBC Local Media announced today that it will launch Web sites that target “locals only” by providing news, entertainment, and information from around the community. The sites will feature content from print and online publications in the area, as well as local bloggers and TV stations to provide visitors with all the information their city has to offer.

“These sites are a departure from what we’ve done in the past and the next step in our mission to provide truly relevant local content to consumers on the media platform of their choice,” said John Wallace, president of NBC Local Media. “Our goal was to create a new type of user experience that’s less an extension of our TV stations and more of an online destination for the latest local news, information, and entertainment. These sites are about putting consumers first and giving them the content they’re looking for from the best available sources.”

NBC’s new plan will eliminate the link between its TV stations and their respective Web sites and will target a city’s specific online community to help locals stay on top of the latest news and information in their area, regardless of the source. In fact, much of the content on the sites will be gathered from outside content providers or contributed by the audience itself through videos, blogs, and text.

According to NBC Local Media’s senior vice president, Brian Buchwald, the new sites will target a group of people NBC is calling “social capitalists” who are passionate about their city and want to “stay ahead of the curve and influence others in their peer groups.”

The sites will roll out in four phases throughout the month. The first phase starts today in Chicago, followed by Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco on October 16. NBC will add Dallas, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. to the group on October 20, and New York and Hartford, Conn., at the end of the month. Each new site will replace the existing NBC local station’s Web site and feature a new domain name. If successful, NBC may roll out the localized sites in other markets sometime in the future.

Updated 10:40 p.m., with details from Wall Street Journal report.

Microsoft is leaning toward waging a proxy fight, according to a CNBC report, citing sources close to the software giant.

The report speculates that Microsoft may launch its opposition slate of directors on Wednesday. According to a report in TechCrunch, the opposition slate may include such folks as:

Kenneth Goldman, former Siebel Systems chief financial officer; Richard Kashnow, former Raychem chief executive; James Mooney, Sirius Satellite Radio and chairman of Virgin Media; Vanessa Wittman, former Adelphia Communications chief financial officer; Ross Levinsohn, former Fox Interactive Media president; John Chapple, former Nextel Partners chief executive who now operates investment firm Hawkeye Investments in Washington state; Edward Meyer, former CEO of advertising powerhouse Grey Global Group; and Jaynie Studenmund, former chief operating officer of Yahoo-acquired Overture Services and former board member of Microsoft-acquired Aquantive.

Update: The Wall Street Journal said Tuesday night that Microsoft was nearing a decision on its next move and could announce its plan as early as Wednesday. The report said that nominating its own slate of directors was one option that was still on the table, but said the software maker could yet head down a different path.

I reviewed Western Digital’s new My Book World Edition NAS server (the white light version) a while ago and complained about its sluggish Web interface, which contains confusing information suggesting that you would need to download software to make the MioNet remote-access solution work. The remote-access solution itself seemed useless.

It would be a lot better if you could download files and folders (even better by just dragging and dropping) onto the remote computer before opening them. Overall, the remote access offered by the My Book World Edition NAS server is still arguably the most limited among those of NAS servers I’ve tested.

The updated version of the My Book World Edition's firmware.

(Credit:
Dong Ngo/CNET)

Nonetheless, other than the remote access, the device is still one of the most easy-to-use and affordable NAS servers currently on the market, and the firmware update only makes it even better. If you own one, I recommend you complete the update right away.

(Credit:
Dong Ngo/CNET)

The original firmware of the My Book World Edition NAS server.

The biggest shortcoming of the solution is the fact that it offers only one way to access data: you can work on only one file at a time, and only by opening it directly from the NAS server. This might work fine with a small documents file (like Word or Excel documents), but for large files (movies and music), most of the time, all you’ll see is the hour glass.

It was very easy to update the firmware. You just need to log into the device’s Web interface, click on “Advanced Mode,” then click on “Update.” Here you can click on “Check for New Firmware,” then on “Download.” The rest will be done by the device itself. Depending on the speed of your Internet connection, the update process will take up to 10 minutes.

Western Digital informed me on Friday that it has released an update to its My Book World Edition firmware to address these issues.

After the update, the device’s Web interface seemed a lot more responsive, and the “Remote Access” section doesn’t tell you to download the software, which is not necessary anymore. Unfortunately, the remote access itself works the same as prior to the update.

Although the firmware updates to version 01.00.14 from version 01.00.02, the version number of the MioNet remote-access solution remains the same, at 2.3.9.13.

According to the letter it originally sent to Yahoo when it first made its bid for the company, Microsoft claimed that it was offering Yahoo a 62 percent premium and as a sign of goodwill, would make the offer with both cash and the company’s stock.

According to Yahoo, it thinks it deserves a valuation that puts its stock price into the high thirties range. I think that’s crazy. What could possibly justify that valuation?

Let’s take a look at where the company stands right now.

I have some news for Microsoft — Yahoo is worth no more than $25 per share.

Not only is Yahoo woefully behind Google in the US search market and losing ground on an almost daily basis, it has yet to find a worthwhile way to leverage its enormous user base and create greater revenue, and it still has yet to solve one vexing problem — how can it skillfully consolidate its slew of services without losing valuable traffic and increasing numbers at the same time?

Regardless, the very fact that Microsoft is even entertaining the thought of increasing its bid is both foolhardy and extremely flawed. Why would it want to pay more for a company that’s actually worth less?

Of course, the answer is quite simple. Microsoft is more than willing to pay such a high premium on Yahoo’s stock price because it wants to put pressure on the company’s board and it ostensibly believes it can do a better job all-around with Yahoo’s services to play with.

That said, Yahoo is still an extremely profitable company and according to its last quarter numbers, enjoyed revenue of over $1.8 billion and a net income of almost $206 million. In 2007 alone, the company realized a profit of $660 million.

Financially, the picture doesn’t look much better. Right now, the stock price, which is already inflated because of the prospect of a deal with Yahoo, is hovering at about $27 per share. In other words, Yahoo’s board wants a premium of almost 40 percent on its current stock price regardless of the original valuation. It’s kidding, right?

Yahoo’s diluted earnings per share is just 0.76 and with a profit margin of just 14 percent, I simply don’t see how Microsoft can justify spending that much on a company that does that little. Perhaps most telling, the company’s price-to-earnings ratio is so high, the value of the stock at $27 is much higher than it should be. Realizing that, how can Microsoft or Yahoo value the company so highly?

And suddenly, the slumping Yahoo stock was rejuvenated when Microsoft announced that it would acquire the company. But amid the bickering between both firms, Yahoo’s position in the marketplace hasn’t improved and so far, I simply don’t see how there is any quick fix.

And while that may sound good at first, when taken in historical terms, Yahoo is going downhill fast. In 2005, the company’s net income was at almost $1.9 billion and in 2006, it dipped to $751 million. Since 2005, Yahoo’s net income has been cut by about 66 percent.

Along with that slide in net income, Yahoo’s share price fell too. In a little over two years, Yahoo’s stock price has been cut in half and the company’s viability to its shareholders has dropped with it.

And while I’m not so quick to agree, I can’t blame Microsoft for trying. Just don’t expect me to believe this deal will happen.

A 62 percent premium? Are you kidding me? At the time, Yahoo’s stock price was barely breathing and floundering at about $19 per share. Since then, the price has gone artificially high and now Microsoft feels like it should pay more to entice shareholders to its side.

At best, Yahoo is worth about $25 per share. As it stands, the company’s profits are slumping, its stock price has fallen considerably over the past few years and Microsoft’s ridiculous premium is extremely high.

Even though Microsoft’s self-imposed deadline on the Yahoo deal has passed, the company quietly leaked a report to the Wall Street Journal this week that said it was willing to pay $32-$33 per share for Yahoo. That was then followed by an update to the story claiming a final decision by Microsoft’s board has not been made.

We’ve already gone over what we think the limitations of the Peek are (see CNET Reviews’ Nicole Lee’s take here). But David Pogue of The New York Times says today that the Peek’s “simplicity and elegance” will win over non-techies easily.

It was supposed to start selling at Target stores on Monday, but Peek decided to get things started a little early. The e-mail-only device, called the Peek, appeared Thursday on the start-up’s Web site.

And it looks like it was a smart idea. Silicon Alley Insider notes that two of the three colors already appear to be sold out. (That would be black cherry, and aqua blue, though boring old gray, er, “charcoal gray,” looks like it’s still in stock.)

He writes, “It will follow the usual cycle of simple, elegant tech products: 1) universal scorn by feature-listers online; 2) quiet, gradual popular acceptance by normal people; 3) bafflement on the part of the feature-listers.”

(Credit:
Corinne Schulze/CNET)

You know how we feel. What do you think, will this be a smashing success among the less technologically savvy among us?

Via Silicon Alley Insider

(Credit:
CNET Networks)

Folia launched in earnest in late 2007. Competing gardening social networks include The Garden Network and GardenWeb.

Gardening goes Web 2.0 with Folia, a tracking and plant resource side with a great social twist.

One of the site’s biggest assets for newbie gardeners is that it’s set up to help you learn about a plant you’ve just acquired, or are thinking about getting, and let you see how well it will work in your region based on the USDA zoning–a list of the ideal growing conditions. While this is helpful, the site can be even more useful if people nearby are posting information on plants that have been successfully grown in your area–something you’re unlikely to find on the back of a seed bag. There’s also a built-in wiki that will give you information on each variety and tips on growing it.

Much like Ravelry, the social network for knitters, Folia’s claim to fame is that it lets you share and track your gardening with others whether they’re near or far. It’s also been built up to help you keep an inventory on all your plants and aid you in making swaps with other growers for plants you’d normally have to go out and buy yourself. Think of it like a giant swap meet for plants.

[via Unclutter via Lifehacker]

Curious about gardening? Check out Folia, a social network for plant enthusiasts who want to share and learn tips from the successes and failures of those around them.

Besides being a reference service, Folia throws in some publishing and productivity tools like a garden blog and a scheduling tool. It ties into Flickr and Google services like Picasa Web Albums and Blogger, so you can take pictures of your plant and post them to your virtual gardens to show to others. This goes along with a tracking tool that notes how many days each plant has been growing since you put it in the ground and when you should water and tend to it based on your care preferences.

See also: Timedriver, Jiffle (formerly iPolipo; review), ScheduleOnce (review), and Ether (review).

It doesn’t look like the new hosted schedule is embeddable in Web pages or on social network sites as a widget, though. If I was a consultant using TimeBridge to let my customers book time with me, I would prefer it if they didn’t have to leave my site to do so.

The meeting time negotiation service TimeBridge is adding a new Web-based component today. It now lets you set up a page, which TimeBridge hosts, that displays your free times. People who want a piece of your schedule can request an available time from those that are open. It’s a good improvement to TimeBridge for service providers like consultants.

Previously, all of TimeBridge’s scheduling communications were in e-mails. See review: TimeBridge makes scheduling easy.

As before, TimeBridge gets its free/busy data from your Outlook or Google calendar; if you’re a user of one of these products, you don’t need to adopt a new basic scheduling system to use the TimeBridge meeting negotiation service.

Now anyone can see what a slacker you are.

Previously, TimeBridge added a free conference calling service, a nice and natural add-on to a meeting coordination product.

I’ve used TimeBridge on and off since November 2006, and I’ve found that the plug-in for Outlook has a conflict with the McAfee virus scanner that CNET installs on our machines. But the service is so potentially valuable to me that I’ve tried three different versions of the software hoping it’d be fixed.

If the price sticks, it would appear to be a pretty good deal at first glance (plenty of high-style home theater systems can cost more than $1,000, despite being limited to playing back standard CDs and DVDs.) Indeed, the Panasonic model has a few advantages versus the Samsung model: it has a five-disc changer (versus the single-disc player on the Samsung), an SD card slot (for playing back digital media, including high-definition AVCHD video), and wireless rear speakers. It’s also said to be Profile 1.1 compliant, meaning that it can play the BonusView (picture-in-picture video content) found on some newer Blu-ray discs.

Related coverage
CNET TV hands-on video: Panasonic SC-BT100
CNET review: Panasonic SC-PT660
CNET review: Panasonic SC-PT760
CNET review: Samsung HT-BD2T
CNET @ CES 2008: Panasonic’s new Blu-ray player goes Profile 2.0
Crave: PS3 firmware with BD-Live support now available

(Credit:
Panasonic)

Unfortunately, there’s a pretty big list of caveats as well. The Samsung is a 7.1-channel system out of the box, whereas the Panasonic is merely 7.1-ready: you’ll need to invest in an additional set of speakers (and another wireless transceiver unit) to get to seven speakers. While Profile 1.1 compatibility is better than many of the Blu-ray players currently on the market, it’s already behind the curve compared with the state of the art Profile 2.0/BD-Live players already announced (Panasonic’s own DMP-BD50) or available (the PlayStation 3). Furthermore, the SC-BT100 is likely to have the same limitations found on the DVD-only Panasonic home theater systems for the 2008 model year:
iPod video playback is only available from the low-resolution composite output, and the skimpy connectivity (just one set of analog and one digital audio-only jack apiece). Those limitations are easy to shrug off on the $300 SC-PT660 and $400 SC-PT760, but become a lot harder to justify on a $1,000 unit.

You can have your cake (Blu-ray 2.0) and eat it too (7.1 home theater with plenty of inputs and outputs) for about $150 more than the SC-BT100’s asking price by investing in a $400 PS3 plus a $750 Onkyo HT-S908 home theater system. Still, compared with the $1,500 price of the Samsung HT-BD2T, the $1,000 Panasonic model comes much closer to justifying itself versus purchasing such dedicated components. As those prices continue to drop–and feature sets continue to improve–look for the reaction to such Blu-ray home theater systems begin to move from “why bother” to “why not.”

Now that Blu-ray has secured its position as the one and only HD disc format, it’s only natural to see it becoming more of a standard feature on desktop PCs, laptops, camcorders, and–now–home theater systems. Samsung’s HT-BD2T has been available for months, while the Panasonic SC-BT100–which debuted at January’s Consumer Electronics Show–is scheduled hit stores later this spring. Panasonic has yet to confirm pricing for its model, but the unit has already popped-up on J&R’s Web site for $1,000 (give or take a nickel).

The Panasonic SC-BT100 will cost just under $1,000.

IVis HF11

(Credit:
Canon)

Canon today unveiled two new AVCHD camcorder models that will be available in Japan in September for the Japanese equivalent of about $1,300. The iVis models–the overseas version of the Vixia brand–will include an addition to the HF line of flash-based camcorders and a replacement for the HG10 hard-disk based unit.

(Credit:
Canon)

iVis HG21

The HF11 is a higher-end line mate for the popular HF10; it adds a higher bit-rate 24Mbps recording mode and an increase to 32GB built-in flash memory, up from 16GB. The hard-disk-based HG21 has the same innards as the HF10/11 and gets a boost to the 12x zoom lens from the HF series. It also gets a bump to a 60GB hard disk–to hold all those large 24Mbps bit-rate files–1,920×1,080 resolution, and the ability to record video to an SD card.

Movable Type: Facebook Connect will allow commenters on MovableType blogs to log in via Facebook authentication. Comments they leave will get posted to their news feed, which is somewhat cool. What I really like is that when a user posts a comment on a blog, they’ll see which of the other people commenting on the item are in their social network.

Facebook Connect allows other Web sites and apps to have their users log in, or authenticate, to the Facebook system, and once logged in, their social network comes with them. The reason it’s a bigger deal than Data Availability is that it’s two-way. Not only does your Facebook data come to you on the external site, but things you do on the site can be reflected back to your Facebook profile and news feed. Two examples:

Mark Zuckerberg today officially rolled out Facebook Connect, a way for apps not on the Facebook Platform to leverage the Facebook social network. It’s an extremely powerful idea, and the demos we saw at the F8 conference were much more impressive than the MySpace Data Availability project that rolled out yesterday.

I was disappointed that Facebook did not announce OpenID support, like MySpace did yesterday (although it only went half-way). Using Facebook as an authentication provider on any and all Web sites is an important development, but it’s a shame that the system is proprietary.

Other Facebook Connect partners include Amiando, CBS.com, CitySearch, CNET (which I had no idea about until today), CollegeHumor, Disney-ABC Television Group, Evite, Flock, Hulu, Kongregate, Loopt, Plaxo, Radar, Red Bull, Seesmic, Socialthing!, StumbleUpon, The Insider, Twitter, Uber, Vimeo and Xobni.

Digg: Users on Digg will be able to connect their accounts to the Facebook profiles, and then when they digg a new item, that information will get fed to their Facebook feed, and presumably will be seen by all their Facebook friends. This is one of the best examples of an app exercising the “virtuous circle” of content and community that Zuckerberg discussed in his keynote today.

More: Liveblog of Mark Zuckerberg’s F8 Keynote.