Jeff Whatcott, the Chief Marketing Officer at Brightcove, spoke with WebProNews and explained that these changes force media companies and publishers think very differently than they did in the past. Now, they must think about how to protect their content, how to deliver it in multiple formats for various devices, and how their advertising methods may change.

What’s more, they also have to determine whether to develop these technologies internally or to outsource them to services such as Brightcove. Whatcott told us that many of these publishers opt to go with Brightcove and other similar services since it saves tremendous time and effort.

“So, rather than starting from just a blank sheet of paper and a long list of questions, they start with a code that’s actually already been written [and] that already integrates in with the right systems and the right ways,” he said.

Brightcove has essentially re-built a video infrastructure through HTML5. Going forward, Whatcott told us that we should expect more developments in online video. He also added that Brightcove would continue to evolve its technology in order to keep up.

Secondly, the company integrated with Pinterest to allow users to easily pin products and brand pages. Sephora also introduced an in-store iOS program that brings technology into its stores to give consumers a more personalized and easier shopping experience.

As Julie Bornstein, the Senior Vice President of Sephora Direct, explained to WebProNews, Sephora is trying to make online shopping much like the Sephora in-store experience, which is very hands-on. She told us that the company believes digital is the way of the future since consumers are beginning to expect digital integrations into practically every aspect of their lives.

Sephora, according to Bornstein, is excited to see where beauty and digital meet going forward. She said the company plans to be at the forefront innovating as these changes take place.

How could a company that was previously considered a leader be dead to so many now? According to Kevin Ryan, the CEO of Motivity Marketing, the problems for Yahoo began with its troubled search ad platform Panama. As he explained to us, Panama put the company’s search business in danger, which led to Yahoo “throwing in the towel on search” and partnering with its rival Microsoft.

In order for Yahoo to stay afloat, Ryan suggests that it re-invest in its search business. Although the company is currently trying to re-invent itself as a media company, Ryan doesn’t think “another HuffPo” is the answer. He believes that, by focusing on search again, Yahoo could better serve its users and, eventually, its advertisers.

Ryan also told us that there are opportunities for Yahoo in social. Both Google and Bing have yet to completely succeed in social, which leaves open doors for Yahoo. Ultimately, he believes Yahoo should make drastic changes internally in order to streamline its processes.

While Ryan is hopeful for Yahoo’s future, he said that only time will tell what may come of the company.

In the past, the FBI has worked to develop independent solutions for these firms, but, as Michael Donahue, a partner at Marashlian & Donahue, LLC, explained to us, the shrinking government budget poses a barrier going forward. The FBI has openly stated that this move wouldn’t allow it to expand its authority, but instead, it would give it the resources it needs to do its job more effectively, given the advancing technologies.

Although the FBI has yet to release a proposal, privacy and security advocates are already voicing concerns. With the reactions to both SOPA and CISPA, tech companies are likely to oppose the move as well.

However, Donahue told us that both sides are aware of the issues that exist. Furthermore, he believes they will take this understanding and develop a balanced framework as a result. He went on to say that he doubted any action would take place this year, since it is an election year, but he said we could likely expect some adjustments in the future.

There are others, however, including Christian Taylor, that believe strongly in the company and its CEO. Taylor, who is the CEO of the leading Facebook ecommerce platform Payvment, told WebProNews that the social network was quickly becoming “engrained into the fabric of the entire Internet.” As he explained, the people that view the company as simply Facebook.com are limiting its true potential.

In addition to advertising, Taylor also sees a big future in the ecommerce side of Facebook. He built his company on top of the Facebook platform for the different type of ecommerce experience it creates. According to him, this new shopping environment will carry ecommerce into the future.

In terms of the company’s imminent meeting with Wall Street, Taylor said he has no worries at all. In fact, he expects Facebook to accelerate in every way.

The company specifically announced a new foundation for mobile computing that helps businesses leverage mobile and cloud opportunities. With this move, IBM provides its clients with better management and security capabilities to ensure that their services operate efficiently through applications and on devices.

Brunet also told us that the company introduced new elements to the PureSystems family of integrated systems. According to him, this offering will help optimize and drive greater efficiencies in the IT environment. Furthermore, it builds “patterns of expertise” that can help organizations reduce costs and workloads in order to deliver their services more effectively.

The new IBM software systems are currently available.

She spoke with WebProNews and explained that, while she has always had a love for tech, she also loved creating items in the offline world. As a result, she decided to build a domestic living brand to teach the younger generation how to bring these worlds together.

Brit provides shortcuts and creative living ideas for several categories including food, style, weddings, and living. The company just released an app for its weddings category called Weduary, which allows couples to create their own wedding websites. Morin told us that the company would eventually have Web and mobile apps for all its categories.

In other news regarding the brand, the company recently announced a $1.25 million seed round of funding from investors such as Marissa Mayer, Seth Goldstein, General Catalyst Partners, and the Founders Fund. According to Morin, this funding will be used to scale the company.

She also told us that we should expect much more from the brand in the coming months.

As Jules Polonetsky, the Director and Co-Chairman of the Future of Privacy Forum, explained to us, consumers want apps to have their data for a better experience. But, they also want them to respect it. While it’s clearly a challenging situation, he believes it is critical that solutions are found now before consumers’ reputations are harmed.

According to him, everyone – from the user to the platform to the app developer – needs to take some responsibility in these issues. For starters, the platforms need to continue to update their base level restrictions for apps. Consumers also have some responsibility, but both the developers and the platforms need to make it easy for them to understand. Ultimately, Polonetsky said that app developers needed to lead the way to resolving the concerns.

He went on to say that, if measures aren’t taken, the government would likely step in. The state of California has already reached an agreement with major platform vendors that would require them to have privacy policies that are easily accessible to users. The state is also currently working on a set of guidelines for app developers.

Are you concerned about mobile privacy? Why or why not?

One media agency, however, believes that Google is taking “a step back” with this move. Dick Reed, the CEO of Just Media, spoke with WebProNews and told us that Google’s action regarding Active GRP (Gross Rating Point) was hard to accept. According to him, digital has made much more progress in analytics than TV has.

While Just Media supports Google’s Active View solution, which means advertisers will only pay for viewed impressions, Frauke Cast, the company’s head of analytics, believes that Google should have made the decision with the industry. In other words, instead of Google making this move on its own, both Cast and Reed think that the search and advertising giant should have worked with agencies, publishers, and others in the industry before it took action.

As they explained, Google and DoubleClick should lead the industry but not without the industry on board with them.

To help us get a better understanding of this news, WebProNews spoke to Kurt Baumgartner, a senior researcher at Kaspersky Lab. According to him, Apple’s security response is especially lacking. As he explained, Microsoft has created a vulnerability-patching program that allows Oracle to provide updates when Java vulnerabilities are detected. Apple, on the other hand, maintains its own patching schedule, which means vulnerabilities could exist for several months before being addressed.

Baumgartner told us that he believes Apple is starting to make improvements in its security but said it would take time to completely solve the concerns. He encourages Apple customers to uninstall Java, which he calls the thorn in Apple’s side, if they don’t need it. Furthermore, he suggests that they reach out to Apple representatives and request them to make improvements to the security update process.

As he explained, if proper action isn’t taken, the malware will only become more prevalent and dangerous.

Are you surprised to hear that Apple’s security is weakening? Do you believe it? Let us know.

Eli Dourado, a research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, has a different perspective though. As he explained to WebProNews, data caps from Internet service providers and mobile carriers are in place for legitimate reasons.

First of all, they are implemented to meet different user needs in terms of pricing. Some users can’t afford and don’t need a large data plan, but there are others who need more and are willing to pay for it. Dourado believes the caps help to meet all user needs.

Secondly, he told us that data caps exist to alleviate congestion. Since so many people use the same bandwidth, the caps help to keep everyone’s service running consistently.

Thirdly, Dourado believes that, without data caps, the entertainment industry would push to have ISPs become copyright police. He, specifically, told us that a SOPA would have much more potential without data caps in place.

He also said that mobile data caps are even more important than ISP data caps, since there is more congestion on the mobile networks.

Do you agree with Dourado, or do you think that data caps shouldn’t exist? We’d love to know.

Miss Travel matches “attractive” and “generous” people that share a love for travel but lack either the funding or the companion to do so. But at this point, the overall perception is that the site is an escort service.

Brandon Wade, the founder and CEO of Miss Travel, told us that the site is very clear about not being an escort service. He said there is a huge difference between paying for an escort and being generous.

According to Wade, people are “reading between the lines” when they say it’s an escort service. He told us that Miss Travel would soon have testimonials to prove that it really is about dating and travel.

Since its launch last month, the site has already garnered nearly 50 thousand users.

What do you think about Miss Travel? Is it just another dating service, or is there more to it? We’d love to hear your take.

The application process for the new generic top-level domains (gTLDs), which was originally scheduled to end on April 12, has been put on hold indefinitely after a technical glitch was detected in ICANN’s software system. What’s more, the security issue also resulted in a data breach that allowed some applicants’ information to be compromised.

The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) has raised issues about the program from the beginning claiming that it could be harmful to both consumers and brands. Dan Jaffe, the Group Executive Vice President of Government Relations at ANA, told us that ICANN needed to check the security of the system before the application process began.

ANA has asked that ICANN bring in a third party consultant to investigate the issues. It is also requesting that the Commerce Department press ICANN for answers and transparency before allowing it to move forward with its plan. Jaffe said he would like to see ICANN take steps that ensure these problems don’t arise in the future as well.

At this point, ICANN is notifying the applicants that were compromised and is expected to re-open the application process once everyone is informed.

Although many think that these IPOs legitimize areas such as social networking and gaming, there are some questions in terms of the impact on the market. According to Vitaliy Katsenelson, the Chief Investment Officer at Investment Management Associates and author of The Little Book of Sideways Markets, some of these companies are trying to shift the power from the shareholders to the CEOs.

For example, Facebook recently acquired Instagram for $1 billion without much input from the company’s board. As Katsenelson explained, Facebook bought a non-profitable company for an inflated price.

While this type of behavior is very different from what the market is accustomed to, he told us that it may work for the short term. However, for the long term, Katsenelson said investors would demand that businesses make decisions that ensure a “genuine cash flow.”

Does this mean Facebook and other tech companies face a rough road ahead? What do you think?

As Adrian Aoun, the CEO of Wavii, explained to WebProNews, the company aims to understand everything on the Web. Although he admits it’s an ambitious goal, Aoun believes that Wavii has the potential to organize the world’s information beyond the extent of Google’s mission.

The service, which is available on the Web and in an iPhone app, allows users to set up feeds for news and topics of interest. For instance, users can receive snippets of information regarding topics such as President Obama, Apple, Kate Middleton, and more.

Going forward, Aoun told us that Wavii would like to return broader information about a specified topic. In other words, if the topic is Kate Middleton, Wavii wants to also include quotes from famous people about her in the feed.

Although it’s still in the very early stages, Aoun believes that Wavii plays a significant role in solving the problem of big data.

Do you see yourself using Wavii for your news and information? What do you think?