businesses

Google has introduced a feature for Google Video for Business that allows viewers to adjust the playback speed. There is a speed control button/slider on the video player that can be used to speed up or slow down a clip. If you're unfamiliar with Google Video for Business, it's part of Google Apps Premiere and Education editions, and lets users share rich video information, keep videos secure and private, and collaborate on videos.

Google introduced its Street View Partner Program today. This lets organizations and businesses apply to have their property featured in Street View on Google Maps, Google Earth, and Google Maps for Mobile.

iPhoneAppQuotes, which puts businesses together with iPhone developers, has released some interesting findings. The company has noticed a shift in app development trends. "Business apps are proving to be the most popular category of apps as entrepreneurs and small businesses realize the marketing and additional revenue stream potential the iPhone creates," says Founder Gregg Weiss. Some of iPhoneAppsQuotes' findings include:

The other day, Twitter Co-founder Biz Stone hinted that the company was working on a document that would provide uses cases and best practices for Twitter use by businesses. Now, Twitter has already put that document up for viewing, and called it Twitter 101 for Business.

Facebook recently announced the Live Stream Box, which lets webmasters integrate a real-time social viewing experience on their site. A spokesperson for Facebook tells Murdok, "Yesterday, CNN.com, MTV.com and other major networks implemented the technology for Michael Jackson’s Memorial, where about 1 million users posted approximately 800,000 status updates in just a few hours."

On Friday, the Interactive Advertising Bureau announced that the US had reached $5.5 billion in online ad revenue for the first quarter. This was down a bit from last year, but that's not too bad considering the state of the economy. In fact, you'd be hard pressed to find other ways to advertise your business that are as cost-effective.

AT&T announced today that it will begin offering the Apple iPhone 3G S on June 19th. People will be able to preorder them starting today at 5pm ET. "iPhone 3G S is the fastest, most powerful iPhone yet, and we're extremely proud to offer it to our customers on the nation's fastest 3G network," said Ralph de la Vega, president and CEO, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. "We're also pleased to offer these innovative phones and plans at incredible values, including free Wi-Fi access at nearly 20,000 hot spots." Pricing is as follows:

Google is launching a new dashboard feature today that allows business owners to see how customers find their website. The new dashboard is called Local Business Center (LBC) and is a free tool that allows business owners to also control the content of their business listings as they appear in Google Search and Google Maps. Business owners can take advantage of the new tool by claiming their listing in the LBC and going through a brief verification process. Once a listing is claimed, business owners will have access to the following data: