Is It Enough?

If the need for change at radio is great, the need for change at newspapers is greater.

One of the most high profile makeovers in the newspaper business has been at The Chicago Tribune. Obviously, a storied newspaper but also a familiar management team to us radio folk makes this story a little bit more interesting.

Watch this video and check out the graphically striking new look and see what you think.
Is it different enough to capture the interest of people who gave up newspapers or hardly ever read a newspaper? What would be the radio equivalent of what Randy and Co. accomplished in Chicago? Is it enough or too little too late?

Thoughts?

Google and T-Mobile Debut the G1

Google seems intent on challenging every sector of the media, mobile, and on-line spaces. Today along with their partner T-Mobile they released the G1 Mobile device.
Check out a promotional video here.

Among many other things this "phone" will be capable of streaming*, both video and audio. As the T-Mobile site explains the G1 is open source using the new Android platform. This directly from the T-Mobile:

Are you a developer?

The T-Mobile G1 features Android, an open-source platform for mobile phones that allows you to create applications for the T-Mobile G1™.

If you are a developer and have an idea of your own, find out how to make it a reality.

So far, it sounds like a pretty good challenger but it's not perfect. Engadget highlights a significant shortcoming--no mini plug for a pair of headphones, but a proprietary exitUSB jack that will require a special pair of headphones or an adapter that won't be available at launch.

Check out Engadget's coverage here.

You also might be interested that the G1, what some are calling the anti-iPhone, will also have a pre-loaded music store from Amazon.

Engadget: Amazon just announced that its MP3 music store will be pre-loaded as an application on the T-Mobile G1. Users will be able to search, download, buy and play music from Amazon MP3 -- that's a selection of 6 million DRM-free MP3 songs from all four major labels and many independents. The pre-loaded Amazon MP3 application provides G1 owners with a phone-optimised view of the Amazon MP3 store -- WiFi is required to download music, but searching, browsing, and listening to samples can be done over 3G "the T-Mobile network." Tracks cost around $0.89 with most albums priced between $5.99 and $9.99. How you like them Apples, Apple.

Search, apps, content and devices...Google here, there and everywhere. It will be interesting to see how it all works out. Let the Apple vs. Blackberry vs. Google death match begin.